Happily Ever After
by hdagostino
Summary: Sequel to Heartbreak and Healing. Modern day Fan fic
1. Chapter 1

_So here's the long awaited sequel. I'm not sure where I want this story to go so bare with me. I've got a lot of ideas but no real way to connect them yet. Be patient with me, as I will post as often as I can but not as close together as I did with H & H. I hope you enjoy this next installment of Sully and Michaela's life together and as always feedback is appreciated._

Chapter 1

As she began to wake to the rising light in the room, she felt him stir behind her. Memories flooded her as she began to remember their wedding. All the family and friends that had come to see them and wish them well on their happy day. Their wedding night and how gentle and sweet Sully had been with her. How fiercely he loved her and the passion that poured out of them. As she began to fully rouse, she turned in his arms as his eyes began to flutter open.

"Good morning'", he yawned sleepily.

"Morning", she turned more fully and pressed her body into his. Groaning, he slid his hand down her back until he reached her bottom and pulled her into him.

"I love waking up like this you know?", he smiled at her. "A guy could get used to this. It makes me never want to get out of bed."

"Well, we don't have to for one more day you know?", she laughed as he nuzzled her neck.

"What are you suggesting Mrs. Sully?"

"Well, Mr. Sully, we could stay just like this until we need to check out tomorrow." With that she rolled herself onto him and began working her way down his chest with soft kisses. She reveled in the fact that she could open up to him and show him how much she wanted him. For now it was ok to express herself in a sexual way. She was married to him and her actions would not be frowned upon by her family. Sully reached up and caressed her sides. His hands brushed the sides of her breasts and she took in a sharp intake of breath.

"You know you're having quiet an affect on me right?", he wiggled his hips suggestively. She could feel his arousal between her thighs.

"Well, let me help you with that", she winked at him and reached between them. He groaned deep and she began caressing him and rolled so he was now atop her. He leaned down and began sucking on a nipple. It peaked and she shivered with what was to come.

"I love you so much", she whispered breathlessly.

"The feelings mutual", he chuckled.

No more words were exchanged as he joined them and began rocking into her.

"Oh god", she exclaimed. Her breathing quickened, eyes rolling back as she bit down on her lower lip. Sully began to pick up the pace, leaning in to suckle her neck.

"Michaela, you don't know what you do to me.", he gasped. He reached around gripping her upper thigh to wrap it around his waist pushing deeper. Picking up the pace sweat began to bead across his face and skin began to flush. Faster yet then….

"OHHHHH", he groaned spilling himself.

Panting, he rested his head on her stomach. She began running her fingers through his hair.

"Will this feeling ever end?" she asked him looking down into his eyes. "I mean will we always be this in love? I've heard that things change later in a marriage."

"Well, this is our honeymoon honey. It's suppose to be like this. But who's to say it ever has to end?" She giggled as she rolled away from him to get out of bed. He looked over at her and furrowed his brow, "where are you going? I thought we were staying in bed today."

"Well, Mr. Sully, I was thinking I might take a shower. I am a bit sweaty now.", she giggled as she glanced over her shoulder. With a little bounce in her step, she walked toward the large bathroom. Glancing back again she laughed at the pout on his face. "Feel free to join me though if you want.", she said with a sly grin.

Sitting at the dining table in their suite enjoying a room service dinner, Michaela looked over at Sully.

"What do you think the wait staff thinks about us? I mean we haven't left the room in 3 days." She blushed as she said this.

"Who cares what they think. Besides, this is the honeymoon suite. I'm sure they're used to it.", he shrugged.

As they sat in the plush bathrobes that the hotel provided, Michaela glanced over at her suitcase, "I guess we really didn't need to pack anything huh?"

She was just beginning to realize that she hadn't opened it all week. They had one more day here, and she was yet to unpack. She felt rather naughty and laughed to herself. "If mother could see me now", she smirked.

"When do you start work?", Michaela asked.

"Day after we get back", Sully glanced across the table at her. He had landed a job at Tate, Allen, and Smith a small architecture firm right in Denver. Michaela was so proud. She knew he was worried about providing for her once they were married, but he was able to find a job quiet easily with the grades he had. Michaela had to all but beg to get five days off from the hospital. Her new boss, Dr. Wright, was known as being difficult to work for. Michaela had heard that no female doctor ever lasted working for him. She was up for the challenge though. She would prove she was worthy. There was something about him that didn't seem quiet right, and she couldn't put her finger on it. But, she wasn't worried to say the least.

"When do you have to go back to the hospital?", he raised his eyebrows.

"Tomorrow night", she sighed.

"Dr. Wright wouldn't even give you time to settle in tomorrow.?", he frowned.

"No, believe me I tried", she placed her head in her hands.

"I don't like him, Michaela. I don't know what it is, but something's not right about him.", he groused.

"Are you jealous Mr. Sully, because you know you have nothing to worry about.", she glanced at him over her wine glass.

"No, not jealous. Just wondering what was so important that he couldn't give you the night off after your honeymoon to settle in.", he sighed.

After finishing dinner, the couple made their way out onto the oceanfront balcony to watch the sunset over the water.

"I'm so glad you picked Palm Springs for our honeymoon", she smiled at him. "It makes me remember all the fun we had the first time we were here."

"Fun?", he looked over at her and raised his eyebrows. "You seemed determined not to like me then. You were snippy and short with me the entire first day we were here."

"I didn't know what to make of you. You were different from anyone I'd ever met, and I was nursing a broken heart.", she sighed. "But I did give you a chance. I remember quiet well that we had our first kiss on the beach right over there", she pointed out in front of their hotel.

He smiled at her, "ok, you got me. Remind me how it went again."

She leaned forward in her chair and brushed her lips across his ever so lightly. "Something like that as I remember", she smiled.

He stood wrapping his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, "If you only knew the kind of kiss that I wanted to give you that night. You had me in all kinds of knots."

"Do tell", she giggled.

Pulling her firmly to him, he crushed his lips to her followed by his body. She reached up and circled his neck with her arms, as she collapsed into him she could feel his growing arousal. Groaning, he pulled away from her mouth and lifted her over his shoulder. She giggled as he swung open the door and marched into their room dumping her into the center of the bed. Smiling from ear to ear he climbed over her and began kissing every inch of her face as he pulled on the tie to her robe.

"Mr. Sully it's getting late and we have to leave tomorrow. Aren't you the least bit tired?", she laughed.

"No, not the slightest. You?", he growled.

"Not really", she mumbled in between kisses.

As she removed his robe as he had done to hers, they consummated their love for one another again on this last day of their honeymoon. Tomorrow it was back to the real world. Back to reality, back to work, back to the hospital, and back to distractions. The fierce love they had for one another would soon be challenged in ways they could never imagine…

_Ok. So I know this is a short chapter, but it was a good place to stop. I'm hoping to post about once a week. I thought I would reward you with some enthusiasm for waiting all summer for this sequel…. Please review and let me know what you think. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome._


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok. So I wasn't planning on posting another chapter so close to the last one, but after listening to my I Tunes this morning an idea struck me. When I have the urge to write I do because I'm an "in the moment" kinda person. Enjoy!_

Chapter 2

They had been back for 2 weeks now. Michaela had been working crazy hours at the hospital, and Sully's job had been going smoothly. Colleen and Daniel were suppose to be coming over for dinner, and Michaela was running late.

"I need you to stay for evening rounds tonight", Dr. Wright barked in her direction.

"I already updated the charts, and I really need to leave on time tonight", Michaela sighed.

It was 5:30 already and she was suppose to leave an hour ago. Sully had sent numerous texts asking her where she was, and she didn't want to be late yet again for dinner.

"Do you like this job, Dr. Quinn?", he raised his brow. She nodded a slow nod as her shoulders slumped. "Well, I suggest you act like it and do as I request", Dr. Wright turned and stormed out of the employee lounge.

Michaela pulled her cell out of her lab coat and dialed Sully.

"I'm going to be late", she mumbled.

"What? Again?", he sighed.

"Sully, you don't understand. I'm working toward my residency. I don't get to pick the hours, or when to say no. I have to stay. I'll be home as soon as I can." She returned the phone to her pocket and began to shuffle out of the lounge. Mark Wright was going to push her buttons as much as he could, that was obvious now. She would not give in. She was going to get through this no matter what.

Dr. Wright was standing by the nurses station pulling a chart when he glanced up to see Michaela round the corner to enter a patient's room. She was beautiful, and oh how he desired her. He had managed to keep her late every day this week, but she still had shown no interest in him. What he would give to run his fingers through her long hair, and to touch her skin. He wondered secretly how soft it was. He'd seen how fiery her temper was and how determined she could be. He was betting that she could be a challenge in bed. He figured just a few more late nights and he could make his move. He wanted her, and he knew she wanted him. After all, no female could resist him and she continued to work for him no matter how much he pushed her. He would win her over, it was only a matter of time.

Michaela glanced over he shoulder as she entered room 411. Dr. Mark Wright stood with a strange look in his eyes as he blatantly stared at her. It made her uncomfortable, but she brushed it off. After all, he was her supervising physician

and if she talked to him about his staring just maybe he would see that it made her uncomfortable and would stop. She didn't want to make things awkward at the hospital. Maybe she was just misunderstanding him, yes that had to be it.

She pulled the chart at the end of the bed and read over it one more time. She'd been working with this patient all week. His name was Brian, and he had a heart condition that needed to be closely monitored. He was having surgery to fix the problem in a few days but he had come to emergency because of a shortness of breath. She placed the chart back in it's place and walked toward the door. As soon as she stepped through it she ran face first into a hard chest. Stumbling back, she looked up only to see Dr. Wright.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there.", she blushed. Little did she know Mark had planned for this to happen. He grabbed her upper arm to steady her and slid it up to her shoulder.

Michaela glanced at the offending hand a pulled away. "I was just coming to see how you were doing. Dr. Andrews is here now. Update him on what has happened throughout your shift, and you may go.", he smiled at her noticing the blush that appeared on her cheeks.

"Thank you Doctor, I will.", she backed further away from him and released the breath that she didn't know she was holding.

Spinning quickly away from him, she dashed towards the nurses station to find Dr. Andrews. Michaela needed to have a talk with Dr. Wright, and soon. His touches and looks were making her more and more uncomfortable everyday, and the sooner she cleared this up, the better.

As she approached the nurses station, Dr. Andrew listened attentively to her ramble off the days events that he needed to focus on. She couldn't help but over hear the snickers and whispers directed towards her. Eyes being rolled and heads shaken confused her. She caught part of the whispers as she walked towards the lounge. They were talking about her and Dr. Wright. Something about how she was leading him on and the fact that she must have a very trusting husband. Saying she wouldn't be married very long, and that Mark always got what he wanted.

Tears pricked her eyes. She tossed her lab coat in her locker, grabbed her jacket and keys, and made her way to the exit. She had walked to work today, and was now regretting it. She wanted to get home to Sully and relax in his embrace. Her dream job was turning out to be not so dreamy after all.

Colleen and Daniel sat at the dining table as Sully was bringing the steaks he had grilled on the deck. The had planned to cook out, but it was a rather humid night. As he sat down Colleen looked over with sympathetic eyes, "you know she'd rather be here right now, don't you?"

"I guess", he sighed. "She's at that hospital more than anywhere else. I guess I'm just wondering when I get her back."

"Well, you know her supervisor has quite a reputation, right?", Colleen raised an eyebrow. "He's hard on everyone who works for him, and he goes through the residents like a deck of playing cards. No one ever lasts. Michaela is stubborn. She's not going to let him push her around."

Half way through their dinner, Michaela walked through the door. Sully rose from the table and began to walk toward her. She raised her hand to halt him and briskly walked into the bedroom. He gave her a questioning look as she returned and sat at the table.

"Everything ok?" he asked her.

"I don't know yet, and no I don't want to talk about it." she twisted her fingers in her lap.

Dinner was finished in polite conversation and Colleen and Daniel left shortly after. Something was up between the two lovebirds and they didn't want to be around to see it come to fruition.

Michaela sat on the couch flicking through the tv channels as Sully did the dishes.

"You wanna tell me what's wrong yet?" he asked not looking over his shoulder.

"Not really, I don't know if I have a problem yet. Let me try to fix this my own way, and if I need your help I'll ask.", she pleaded.

After finishing up, Sully made his way over to sit with her on the couch. They watched tv for a few hours and then made their way to bed. Both tired from a long day of work, curled up together and fell asleep. Sully didn't notice the look of worry and puzzlement on Michaela's face. _Was she leading him on? Did she send out signals at work that she wasn't aware of? She didn't think so._ Her mind pondered these ideas long into the night. No way was she getting any sleep tonight. Good thing I have tomorrow off, she thought to herself.

_So there you go…read and review…let me know what you think._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sitting at the table having their morning coffee and reading the newspaper had become a ritual for them. As Sully cleared the breakfast dishes, Michaela glanced out the large window.

"Looks like it's going to be a nice day today. Would you like to meet at the park for lunch seeing that I have the day off?" she smiled. She was hoping to lessen the tension from the previous night.

"Can't today sweetie. I have a meeting with a client.", he replied.

"Well maybe another time. I just feel like we never see each other anymore.", she pouted.

"Who's fault is that!", he retorted.

"Sorry, I don't want to fight with you. I know I haven't been around much. I just thought it would be nice is all.", she sighed as she got up to walk over to him.

She placed her arms around his waist and gave him a soft kiss. "Who are you meeting with?"

"The client's daughter today. Some Alexandra Brown?", he said as more of a question than a statement. "Her father is wanting to build some ski resort off of Pike's Peak and she's meeting with the designers today. We meet with her father next week, a Mr. Thomas Brown, I think his name is."

Michaela's mouth dropped open slightly. "Is he from Boston by any chance?", she mumbled. This couldn't be the same Alex that she knew from grade school. I mean, what were the chances that she would be in Colorado now?

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?", Sully questioned.

"Maybe, I knew an Alex Brown when I went to prep school, but they moved away. Went to Europe I think and I never heard from her after that.", she mused.

"Well, I gotta go. I'll see you tonight ok?", he raised his brow and pulled out of her embrace. With a quick kiss to the cheek he was out the door and headed for work.

As Sully walked into his office he notice a young woman sitting in the reception area. "Here he is now", said the receptionist as he walked through the door.

"I'm sorry, am I late?", Sully asked.

"No, I think I was a little early", the young women responded. She rose and offered her hand, "Alexandra Brown, but my friends call me Alex", she smiled at him.

Sully stood momentarily transfixed. She was slightly taller than Michaela. She had long blonde hair that looked like corn silk and skin bronzed by the sun. She had a curvy figure and knew how to use it. Sully blinked a few times to get his bearings.

"Hi, I'm Sully, I'll be helping with the design. Any questions that you need answered will go through me.", he glanced toward his office. "Would you like to come in and have a seat?"

The two walked into his office, as Sully began to move around his desk he noticed that Alex pulled the door shut. She was very beautiful and he could tell by watching her that she knew her affect on men.

"My father wanted me to give you this list of what we would like the villas to look like. Also, here's a list of other features that we would like to see in the design.", she leaned forward on his desk causing her blouse to fall open slightly. Sully averted his eyes as she handed him a folder full of papers. "My number is listed on the first page. I'm in the process of finding an apartment, so use my cell number for now.", she smiled at him and rose from her seat. "Do you have a business card that I could take?", she scanned his desk.

"Yes, here", he handed her his card. "Let me give you my home number also, so you can reach me if needed.", he smiled and began writing his number for the loft on the back.

_This is nice, I'll be able to reach him when ever I need to_ Alex thought to herself. _I wonder if he knows how good looking he is. I hope his wife knows_, she had been glancing at Sully's wedding ring during most of the meeting.

"Well, I look forward to working with you, Alex", Sully smiled.

"Same here", Alex replied. With that she left Sully's office and began walking out of the building.

Meanwhile Michaela had spent most of the day cleaning the loft and running errands that desperately needed to be done. When arriving home, her beeper went off. "You have got to be kidding me", she sighed. She dialed the number that she knew by heart as Dr. Wright's office.

"Dr. Quinn, Dr. Andrews had to leave early today and won't be able to finish his shift. I need you to come in and cover for him.", Dr. Wright barked into the phone.

"This is my day off. I've worked the last 16 days straight. Isn't there someone else that could cover tonight?", she pleaded. She really wasn't ready to deal with Dr. Wright, and she was hoping for a nice evening at home with Sully.

"No there isn't. Now I expect you to be here within the hour", with that he hung up the phone.

Michaela slumped on the couch. How was she going to survive this. Sully would be mad for sure, and Dr. Wright was over stepping his bounds with her. She couldn't really blame Dr. Andrews, he covered for her when she went on her honeymoon. She quickly put away the groceries that she just bought and went into the bedroom to change for work. Hospital scrubs were going to have to work for tonight. She hadn't expected to need any of her dressier clothes. She pulled on the blue pair that she had thrown over a chair, pulled her hair up into a ponytail, stepped into some sneakers, and went to write Sully a note.

_Sully, _

_Got called into work tonight. I know, I know, I'm sorry. I would rather be spending the evening with you…believe me. I'm hoping not to need to work to late. The shift ends at 11:30. Wait up for me…I'll make it up to you._

_Love, Michaela_

She taped the note to the microwave and dashed out the door.

Upon arriving at the hospital, she tossed her purse and jacket into her locker. As she rounded the corner she bumped into Dr. Wright.

"Oh good, you're here. Do you want to scrub in for surgery? The Jones kid is getting his new valve tonight. You can join us if you like.", he questioned.

"Are you serious?", she looked at him wide eyed. Little Brian was getting his valve replacement surgery and they were letting her help. This was like a dream come true. She had yet to be in the OR when actual surgery was going on.

"Yes, Doctor. What time do I need to be there?" excitement was radiating off her.

"You have 30 minute to scrub and gown up", he smiled and walked away. His plan was working already. He had gotten her here on her day off, and gotten her to scrub in. This was going to be easier than he thought. She was so excited, and it was because of something that he was doing. Dr. Quinn was one step closer to becoming his.

The surgery had gone well. Brian had made it through with no complications. Michaela was sitting beside him in the recovery room waiting for him to wake up. It was almost 11 and she was suppose to be able to leave soon. She leaned back in the chair she was sitting in and closed her eyes. _Just a few minutes will be ok, I won't fall asleep_, she told herself.

Dr. Wright walked down the hall and happened to look in the room. He saw Michaela sleeping in the recliner next to Brian's bed. Brian would be out for awhile. He was on heavy narcotics. After all, he's just had heart surgery. Limited people were allowed in his room because he was on the critical care wing of the hospital. Now was his chance, he thought. He quietly crept into the room and pulled the strings to close the blinds. Michaela didn't stir as he approached her. He knelt down in front of her an placed a hand on each of her wrists, pinning her to the recliner. Still no movement. He leaned up and place a soft kiss to her neck. She moaned, "Sulllllyy", as he pulled away. He rose and moved behind the chair. Reaching around from behind he brushed his palm across her left breast and nuzzled her ear. "Sully", she whispered again. Suddenly her eyes flew open. She jerked up from the chair and spun around.

Michaela was in a deep sleep. She was more tired than she had originally thought. She felt a presence near her, but not one that she recognized. First there was a kiss. Her body told her it was Sully, but her mind didn't agree. She was at the hospital, what would he be doing here. Then as she began to rouse more she felt a subtle caress to her breast. It was rough though, not gentle like Sully's touch. Her eyes flew open and she spun around to see Dr. Wright smiling at her.

"What do you think you're doing", she squeaked.

"You seemed to like it based on your reaction", he grinned.

"Y..Y…You need to leave!", she squealed. "This is wrong on so many levels."

"I can tell by the way you were moaning and shifting under my touch, that you want me. Don't deny it. You're such a tease!", he snickered. "You obviously aren't getting what you need from your husband, or you wouldn't have reacted like that to my touch."

He moved around to the front of her and walked towards the door. "I suggest that you figure out what your priorities are going to be at this hospital before your next shift. I'm the one that got you into the OR today, and I'm the one that you work under", he said as he smiled and exited the room.

After the door closed Michaela checked on Brian one more time, and made her way to the lounge.

As she rounded the corner, several interns and nurses gave her the evil eye. They had seen Dr. Wright leave the room first with a wicked smile on his face. They knew what he was like, and they hated her for it. She was getting all of his attention. Attention that they wanted. They snickered as she walked briskly by them and into the lounge. She pushed her way into a bathroom stall and leaned against the door. She clutched her hand to her chest as she replayed the events that had just occurred. _What was she going to do? How was she going to survive working like this? It had to stop. She needed to report him. But how was that going to effect her job? He was an important, well respected doctor and she was a nobody. She had no pull yet at this hospital, and it was obvious that he'd done this before and had always gotten away with it. Not this time_ she thought. _Never again!_

She gathered her things, and made her way to the parking garage. It was well after midnight, and she knew Sully was going to be mad. She'd decided not to tell him about what happened with Dr. Wright. She wanted to talk to someone at the hospital first. Sully would want to cause a scene with the doctor, and that would only make things worse. She sighed as she climbed into her car and headed back to the loft. What had started as a good day had turned south in the worse possible way.

_Ok, so I don't agree with sexual harassment in the workplace, but I wanted to put some real life situations into this story. These types of things happen more than we realize and Michaela is a strong woman. What do you think? Oh, and I do have a plan for Alex. _


	4. Chapter 4

_So, I really wasn't planning on writing this much this fast, but this story is just pouring out of me. I can say that this will be the last chapter I post until after the Labor Day weekend. I've got a family that wants me away from my laptop for a few days. So enjoy, and I hope this holds everyone for a little while._

Chapter 4

Michaela climbed the steps to the loft. She was tired, but her mind was spinning. On her drive home she had decided to go to hospital administration in the morning. She was not dealing with Dr. Wright's advances anymore. He had crossed the line tonight and there was no going back. She knew in her heart that no one deserved to be treated the way he did to her tonight. What if someone had walked in? How would he have explained his way out of that? She knew in her heart that there had to be others. His behavior toward her was obviously not something new. As she entered the loft, all the lights had been turned off except one over the sink in the kitchen area. There was a note on the microwave that said "Dinner" on it. Sully had left her a plate to reheat. She wasn't hungry after the night she had had so she put it in the fridge and went to get ready for bed.

She entered the bedroom and began to quietly remove her clothes. She tossed the scrubs into a pile on the floor, snuck into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. She closed the door behind her so she wouldn't disturb Sully. She knew he had to get up early for work the next morning.

The warm water poured over her and she began to relax. She scrub feverously at her skin. She wanted to wash away any residue of Mark's touch. In her mind she knew that it was no longer on her body, but her stomach grew sick every time she looked down at her breast.

Sully began to wake as he heard the shower running. He rubbed his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. The alarm clock flashed 12:45. It was really late. He cursed at himself that he was so short with his wife this morning. He missed seeing her, and he knew that this job at the hospital was what she had been working toward all the time she was in school. He had known that these first few years towards residency would be hard, and the first time they had put any demand on her he'd balked. He'd fix this. He'd have to be more supportive or things would crumble.

He stood from the bed and shucked his boxers, then nimbly walked to the bathroom door. He could see her standing under the water rinsing the soap from her body. He pulled the curtain back and gazed at his beautiful bride. She was facing away from him letting the warm water cascade over her body. He quietly stepped in behind her so not to disturb her and placed his hands around her gently. He buried his face in her neck and reached around to tighten his hold.

Michaela felt him grasp her and she yelped as he tighten his grip. Sully stepped back and released her just as she jumped.

"It's just me", he whispered. "I missed you!"

"Oh Sully, I'm sorry", she began to cry.

As tears fell down her cheeks she spun in his arms and buried her head in his chest. He began to rub her back softly as he held her to him.

"What's wrong?", he asked. She shook her head in protest of answering his question. She didn't know if she could talk about this yet.

"Michaela, tell me. Did something happen at work?", he pleaded with her. "With a patient?" he questioned.

She shook her head no. "Please tell me.", he stepped back to get out of the shower but she clung to him as if her life depended on it.

"Let's get out and dry off. I'll make you some tea, ok?", he was trying to calm her. She nodded her head and took his hand as he reached for hers. They stepped out of the shower and toweled off. Sully pulled his boxers back on and turned toward her, "I'm going to go put the water on to boil, why don't you get dressed."

She nodded and finished drying off.

When she emerged from the bedroom, Sully was leaning against the island in the kitchen. He handed her a cup of tea and led her to the couch in the living area. She sat silently staring at the mug in her hand. She knew she needed to tell him, knew she'd feel better once she did.

She took a deep breath and turned to face him. As tears began to sting her eyes again she told him about her day. How she was so excited when she was asked to scrub in for surgery. How she couldn't believe her luck. How little Brian had been her patient, and to see the culmination of his care happen right in front of her was so gratifying. Then she went into detail about what Dr. Mark Wright had done to her while she looked after Brian in his room. Sully sat back as the color began to rise on his face.

"I knew something was off with him. The way he didn't want to give you time off for the honeymoon. The way he glared at me when I came to see you at the hospital before the wedding.", his temper was beginning to flare.

Michaela twisted her hands in her lap nervously,

"What aren't you telling me?", Sully queried. "Is there more? How long has this been going on?", he demanded.

Michaela told him about the staring and the innocent brushes of the arm, although now she sensed that they weren't so innocent. What bothered her the most though was that he told her she wanted it, that she was leading him on.

"Michaela, I don't care what he said you did. Men have minds of their own. It doesn't matter how much of a signal a woman puts off. The man can always say no.", he pulled her into an embrace. As she leaned on his shoulder, she could feel him tense under her. She knew he was angry and holding back for her sake.

"You aren't going back there as long as he's still working there", he demanded.

"I have to Sully. I'm going to report him tomorrow and request a transfer. I want to change floors, but I can't leave the hospital. If I do, then I'm letting him win. I won't do that. He's the one that's wrong, not me. I'm not letting him run me off.", she stated with strong resolve. How could she have ever let thoughts of this being her fault enter her mind.

She finished her tea and placed the mug on the coffee table. She turned to stand and reached for him. "let's go to bed. I know you have to be tired."

"Not really tired right now", he ground out still fuming slightly. "What I really want to do is find out where Dr. Mark Wright lives and go teach him some manners. I'm coming with you tomorrow to talk to HR and we're going to fix this."

"What about work, Sully. Don't you have to work tomorrow?", she questioned.

"I'll call in for the day. This is more important. They'll understand.", he stated gruffly.

"No, don't tell them. I don't want anyone to know about this.", she pleaded.

"Michaela, you didn't do anything wrong, but I won't say anything about it if that's what you really want.", he hugged her to him and began to rise. "Let's go to bed."

As she stood, he swept her up and carried her to the bedroom. She leaned into his chest and breathed in his scent. He plopped her down on the bed and pulled back the covers to climb in. As she laid down and snuggled up next to him, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I love you", she whispered into his ear.

"I love you too, more than anything. Now go to sleep, we'll fix this tomorrow.", he yawned although sleep was the furthest thing from his mind right now.

As the alarm clock blared it's 7am alarm, Sully reached over and smacked it until it quieted. He slowly rose from the bed and grabbed his cell as he made his way to the kitchen. Michaela was still asleep and he didn't want to wake her after the confession he'd listened to last night. He dialed the office and waited for someone to pick up.

"Yes, Rick please", he stated into the phone. "Mr. Allen, I'm sorry to call with such late notice, but I need to take the day off for some personal stuff. Yeah, didn't know about this until the late hours of the night. Yep, I can work from home. I've got my laptop here. Oh wow, thanks, you really didn't need to do that sir. Thank you, I'll be back on Monday then.", he hung up the phone as he made his way back to bed.

As he was climbing in Michaela rolled over. When she saw he was in bed and it was after 7 she shot up. "You need to get ready for work", she gasped.

"Nope, already called the boss. Rick was in. He's easy to talk to. Told me I could have tomorrow off too just to make sure that whatever problem I had was able to be resolved. Said I could work from home.", he smiled at her. "See, we're going to get this worked out for you. That's first on my list right now. So, get up. I'm going to cook you breakfast and then we're going to talk to HR."

While Michaela dressed, Sully cooked a huge spread of pancakes and eggs, fresh squeezed juice and toast. Michaela sat at the table and munched. "I think you missed your calling Sully. You should have been a chef", she giggled.

As the couple finished their breakfast, they made their way downstairs. It was a beautiful day outside so they decided to walk. Upon nearing the hospital, Michaela's hand began to shake._ I can do this_ she told herself. The couple walked hand in hand to the administration floor, and asked to speak with the HR manager. They were soon seated in an office.

The door opened slowly and a woman in her mid thirties entered. Michaela sighed as it was going to be so much easier explaining her situation to another female.

"Hi, I'm Deborah. How can I help you today?", she smiled at them.

Sully nudged Michaela in the side and she introduced herself. "Dr. Quinn, I work in the emergency department, sort of. That's where I was originally assigned anyway. My supervisor is Dr. Wright.", her voice began to waver.

Deborah leaned forward, "I think I know where this is going", she said sympathetically and touched Michaela on the arm.

"You mean this has happened before?", Sully questioned. "Why does he still work here?", he demanded.

"Well you see Mr. Sully, when someone files a complaint we have to investigate. We've never had a complainant willing to stay around for that and press charges. There's not much I can do without her side of this", she pointed at Michaela.

Michaela stood firmly holding her resolve, "Well I'm pressing charges. He needs to go, and I'm going to make sure that no one has to endure what I have for the last month."

"I'm glad to hear this Dr. Quinn", Deborah stated matter-of-factly. "but I hope you know the battle we're in for."

"What will happen first", Michaela asked.

"Well first, he will be put on leave from the hospital, then we'll investigate the charges. If he's found guilty, then he will be terminated. He will be allowed no contact with you in the process, however your colleagues may not be so understanding. He has quite a following of female nurses as I'm sure you've noticed. They're going to blame you for this. None of it is your fault, but I want you to be prepared for what you might face.", she smiled sympathetically.

"I can handle it", Michaela stated.

"Alright then, I need you to fill out this paperwork and we'll get started.", Deborah handed her a packet of paper.

"How long til he's sent packing", Sully asked.

"Dr. Wright will be removed by the end of the day", Deborah smiled. "You're a brave and strong woman. Don't forget that through all of this", she patted Michaela's arm.

Michaela smiled and handed her the papers. The couple thanked Deborah and walked outside.

"What do you want to do now?", Sully asked. "I thought we might go to the park and have that lunch that I missed yesterday."

"Sounds great", she smiled up at him. The two began to walk slowly in the direction of the park. The sun was beating down on them on this beautiful summer day. Michaela was beginning to feel like things were finally turning in a positive direction for now anyway. She knew that she was in for a battle at work over the actions she took. She knew what she was doing was the right thing to do, but the right thing is not always the easiest.

_So there you go. Please review…I love hearing from my fans. I've had some PMs saying that Michaela seems OC. Remember that at the beginning of this story she if fresh out of school, and a young woman in her 20s. She's yet to define herself , and is still working to find her place in the world. As she matures we'll see more of the personality from DQMW. This will be the last chapter posted until the middle of next week._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As Michaela sat drinking her coffee at the kitchen island she began thinking about the last few weeks. Things were finally moving in a positive direction. Dr. Wright had been terminated shortly after she had filed her complaint. As news had spread through the hospital of the tenacious Dr. Quinn women had been coming out of the woodwork to join forces against Dr. Wright. Michaela had been right, he'd been doing this to other women for years. She'd made some good friends throughout this. They had a common bond. She remembered smiling at her victory as he was escorted from the hospital and told never to return. She had moved up to the OBGYN floor and was loving it. She was working with Dr. Bernard now. He had transferred from the emergency department and was happy to have her working for him once again. Michaela was enjoying the hospital more now too. She found it much easier to go in in the middle of the night, or stay late when she actually liked her job and looked forward to work. Dr. Bernard was much easier to talk to, and let her have the time off that she asked for also. She was such a determined and hard worker, that the occasional day or weekend off wasn't that big of a deal.

Sully on the other hand was hardly ever home. The Pike's Peak resort was consuming all his time. Alex Brown and her father had been keeping him quite busy lately. Sully had been at the office on many late nights and even mentioned that he might have to go away over night on a business trip in the coming future.

Just as she was standing to put her mug in the sink, Sully emerged from the bedroom. She smiled as she watched him stride over to the counter and put his briefcase down. He had on a suit this morning, dark blue with a crisp blue dress shirt finished off with a navy tie. His hair was still damp from the shower, and he had shaved this morning. He saw her staring even though she averted her eyes as soon as he made contact with them.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, what's with the suit today. I never get this pleasure.", she raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

"Big meeting with the Brown's today. Final plans are being approved. Michaela if they say yes this could make my career.", he rubbed his hand across his eyes. "This is big. Do you know how many first year architects get a job like this? I'll tell you, none. I feel like it's going to be yanked out from under me at any moment.", he sighed as she stood and began to walk towards him. She placed her arms around his waist and rose to her tiptoes to place a soft kiss to his lips.

"You'll do fine. If they didn't like your ideas, they would be spending so much time on this with you.", she patted his arm.

"You're right", he smiled. "It's just nice to hear it from someone other than myself I guess. I'm not sure what time I'll be home tonight. You working today?", he glanced in her direction as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Yes, I don't go in until 11 though. Maybe we could meet on my dinner break?", she smiled at him.

"Sounds like a plan", he shouted over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

When Sully got to the office he had about 30 minutes until the Brown's arrived. He got all of his ideas together in a folder and walked toward to conference room to set up for his presentation. When he entered Alex was sitting at the long table with her legs crossed. Sully stepped back almost colliding with the door.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here.", he stumbled.

"I was early, I figured I'd just wait.", she smiled a seductive smile.

Sully began fumbling though his folders placing things on the bulletin boards behind him. Alex watched his body move and glide around the room taking in the way his muscled form flexed under his suit jacket. Sully was completely unaware of the looks he was receiving from her. Alex was good at hiding her intentions. She knew how to work someone over, and she knew how to get what she wanted. Right now she wanted Sully, but she knew by the way he ignored her advances that she was going to have to turn up the charm. She knew that she would need to approach this differently. Sully was a devoted husband, and she had never gone after a married man. This would be quite a challenge, but she was up for it.

Just then, Sully turned and sat down at the end of the conference table pulling Alex out of her musings.

"My wife said that she knew someone with your name from grade school. Maybe you two know each other?", he smiled at her. "Her name's Michaela Quinn?", Sully raised an eyebrow.

Alex glanced at her lap and a slow smile spread across her face. "I did know a Michaela Quinn. We were only 12 when I moved to France with my father. I'd love to catch up if it's the same person. That would be so nice.", her smile was sugary sweet as she watched him. _This will be just too easy if it really is Mike. How awesome would this payback be_, she thought to herself. You see Alex's first crush was a boy named Will. Will only had eyes for Mike. Mike didn't see Will that way though. She just wanted to be friends. Alex saw Mike as the one who stole Will away from her. All these years later Alex was still holding this against Michaela. Michaela never knew any of this though. She had thought that the friendship had just drifted apart because Alex moved away.

As Alex sat remembering the past, her father and the rest of the planning team came into the conference room. Sully flew though his presentation with ease and expertise. Thomas reached across the table and shook Sully's hand.

"You impress me son, and my daughter can't stop singing your praises. You got the job.", he smiled widely.

"Thank you sir", Sully smiled in return.

"Here, I want you to have these.", he reached in his pocket and handed Sully two tickets to Saturday's Rockies game. "These are for my box. Bring someone with you and relax for the weekend."

Sully's smile got even wider. He knew Michaela had the weekend off, and this would be a nice weekend getaway. He could book a hotel room and they could have some much needed alone time.

"Thank you sir, my wife will be happy to get some time with me. I've been rather busy lately.", Sully smirked.

Alex's smile widened as Sully mentioned his wife. This would be her chance to see if this was the Michaela she remembered. She hardly ever attended the games, but she would make sure that she was at this one.

Sully gathered his things and made his way back to his office. He wanted to go to the hospital and meet Michaela for dinner. It was already 5:00 and he knew she always took her break around 6. He was in such a hurry, he didn't see the cunning smile that was plastered across Alex's face as she watched his retreating form.

Michaela was leaning over the nurse's station filling in a chart when Sully reached her floor. She hadn't seen him yet, but she could feel his presence. She smiled when she heard his voice behind her.

"Uh, Dr. Quinn? I was wondering if you might take a look at me this evening. I think I might need your medical assistance.", he said as straight faced as he could.

"Why sir, what might be the problem?" she replied.

"I need a little privacy to show you, it's in a delicate place", he whispered near her ear.

Michaela flushed bright red and shivered as Sully's breath tickled the skin near her ear. "Right this way sir", she grabbed for his hand and led him into an empty room.

"How long do you have before they know you're missing?", he groaned.

"I'm on break, so about 30 minutes before they start looking, but that's also my time to eat. I'm rather hungry tonight", she whispered as she rubbed up against him.

Sully pulled the door to the small room closed and pulled the blinds. When Michaela turned around he pressed her to the door.

"What about my exam", he chuckled.

She reached down and cupped him with her hand, "everything seems to be in working order to me", she giggled.

Sully was slowly losing control, he had to keep telling himself that they were at the hospital and not the loft. He couldn't do what he really wanted to right now. He pressed himself into her as she flattened against the door. Soon both pairs of hands were frantic as his mouth descended onto hers. The kiss deepened and he slid his hand to her breast to squeeze it gently.

"You still want to get dinner, or do you want to stay here", he gasped.

"Here", she gasped as she pulled him to her again.

He reached around her and lifted her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her over to the counter on the opposite wall and set her on the edge. She pulled at his tie to loosen it and unbuttoned the first couple of buttons. As she plied kisses to his neck and chest he knew he needed to pull back and slow her down.

"Michaela, we're not at home right now", he groaned again.

"Door's locked", she gasped "don't worry about it."

"You sure", he pulled away from her.

"Sully, trust me. I need you. Now stop wasting time and kiss me".

He leaned in capturing her lips again as he began to roll her skirt up. She leaned forward and tugged at his belt buckle trying to free it. She sighed in frustration as it wouldn't come loose. Sully reached down and clasped his hands over hers.

"Impatient today", he chuckled.

"Not funny", she playfully pushed on his chest.

He freed the belt and released the clasp as his pants drifted down to his ankles. Moving between her knees he gripped he backside and lifted her onto him. As he rocked into her, she leaned forward to kiss him in order to stifle her groan. Never did she think that she was brave enough to do this at work of all places. She had no idea what had come over her. Doing this was one thing, but getting caught was quite another.

Sully couldn't believe that Michaela had actually let him do this. This was a fantasy he'd had for awhile, but never in his wildest dreams did he think that it could become a reality. As he began to pull himself together he chucked. "Never thought this would happen a in a million years."

Michaela blushed as she slid from the counter and pulled her skirt to straighten it. Sully was tucking his shirt back in and removing his tie the rest of the way. She placed a kiss to his lips and smiled seductively. "Well I wanted to make sure you had a thorough exam."

"What is this place?", he asked.

"It's going to be a med room when they finish with the remodel. Right now it's our spot.", smiled and sauntered over to the door to flick the lock open. "Care to take a walk with me, Mr. Sully? We need to make sure your lower half is still functioning properly."

Sully skipped up behind her a swatted her on the behind as the walked through the door. Michaela glanced around to make sure that no one was watching them. She turned toward Sully, grabbed his hand, and began pulling towards the nursery.

As they stood in front of the glass looking at the tiny infants, Michaela sighed.

"Michaela we've talked about this", Sully groaned. "We can't have a baby right now. Neither one of us has the time. Our jobs are too demanding right now". He rubbed his hand over his eyes. He knew that this was a bone of contention with them and would be until he could convince her to see things his way.

"I know Sully, I just can't help it. I come here everyday and see them. I hold them, and rock them sometimes. It makes me wonder if we're just making excuses. I mean, I'm not getting any younger.", she glanced up at him to see the slight frown on his face.

"Michaela, you're 23, that's not old. We have plenty of time for babies. We're still good with this right? This conversation isn't your way of telling me that I'm going to be a dad soon, is it? I mean you'd tell me right?"

"Yes, we're good. I'm not pregnant. I've been on the pill since before the wedding and haven't missed one yet. I just…I think I'm ready." She knew deep in her heart that they could make this work. However, she did see Sully's point. They both worked crazy hours, they were hardly ever home, they needed a house with a yard for a baby to play in. There were so many changes that would have to be made in order for it to work. " I just…never mind", she sighed. "How was your day?", she wanted to change the subject.

"Great! I got the contract for the Pike's Peak resort and…" he held out the tickets, "we've got plans this weekend". He smiled as she took them from his hand and examined them.

"These are boxed seats", she glanced at him. "Are you sure you want to take me? I mean, wouldn't you rather take Daniel?"

"Yes, I'm sure I want to take you, and we're going to stay in the most posh hotel I can find. You and me, alone, for the whole weekend. I'd be crazy not to take you", he smiled a toothy grin.

"I've got to get back to work", she glanced at her watch. "They'll be looking for me soon". Just then her beeper went off. "Duty calls", she picked the beeper up and squeezed it to stop the beeping. She leaned up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"So we're good, I mean with whole baby thing?", he looked at her pleading for her to agree.

"Yes, we're good", she sighed. Secretly she wasn't , but she did not want to fight about this now with Sully in such a good mood. She figured she could address this at a later date. They'd have an entire weekend alone together, maybe she could convince him then that they were ready. "I'll see you at home", she smiled and turned to head back to the nurses station.

He turned and walked toward the elevators to head home. The more he walked, the more he started to believe Michaela's arguments over his own with starting a family. He shook his head, _what am I thinking. We can't have a baby right now, we just can't. Neither of has the time. Maybe in a few years, things will slow down by then right?_ He asked himself.

_Sorry it took me so long to post the next chapter. I appreciate your patience. Both of my kids started back to school last week and it's been crazy in my house. Not to mention that I've been fighting a cold for the past week and still feel pretty bad. My desire to sit and write just wasn't there. Anyway, I'll try to get more of this story up this week. I tried to make this chapter slightly longer since you had to wait so long. Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated. Thank you to all of you that are following this story!_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As the alarm began sounding that it was time to start another day, Michaela rolled over and swatted it. When she finally made contact, she groaned and pulled the covers over her head. Sully laughed as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom watching her.

"You better get up if you're going to make it to work on time".

She threw back the covers and glanced over at him. Her cheeks were flushed but the rest of her was white as a ghost. She slowly sat up, but then flopped back in the bed.

"I don't think I can", she moaned. "I feel awful. I think I'm coming down with something.", she whimpered. "Several people at the hospital have been sick this week."

"Do you want me to make you some tea?", he asked.

"That would be great, and bring me my phone. I need to call Dr. Bernard and let him know I'm taking a sick day.", she sighed.

As Sully walked into the kitchen to put the water on to boil he was glad that she finally decided to take a day off. Michaela had been sick for several days, and was finally admitting it to herself. He could tell that she hadn't felt well, but he knew better than to give her a hard time about it. He knew that she would deny anything was wrong until she just couldn't take it any longer. Now all he needed to do was convince her that she should go to the doctor and get some medicine. _Easier said than done_ he thought to himself.

Upon returning to the room, he had noticed that she'd fallen back asleep. He set the tea on the bedside table, kissed her on the cheek, and made his way out to call the hospital. After calling Dr. Bernard and explaining that Michaela needed a sick day, he gathered his things and made his way to work.

As he drove to work, Sully wondered if their weekend would be spoiled due to Michaela's illness. They had both been looking forward to the Rockies game. Sully had booked a nice suite and planned an entire weekend for just the two of them. With it already being Thursday he wasn't sure she'd feel up to going. He decided that if Michaela wasn't feeling better by the next day, he would give the tickets to Daniel. He wanted to spend time with Michaela, he didn't care where that was as long as they were together. It had been too many weekends since they had some alone time.

Michaela awoke shortly after Sully left. She drank the tea he had left for her took her temperature. 101.3 _Ugh!_ she thought. After a long bout of coughing she decided a trip to the doctor was in order. She called Colleen, who was dumbfounded that Michaela had given in so quickly. Then took a quick shower and waited. When Colleen arrived they left in her car and headed to the nearby medical clinic.

"I can't believe you were convinced so easily to go to the doctor. This must be a record for you", Colleen laughed.

Michaela scowled at her, "Sully has some big weekend planned for us. I wanted to try and get well for it. He's gone to so much trouble. Plus, don't tell him, but I've been fighting whatever this is for a few days now."

They pulled up to the clinic walked in, checked in, and waited their turn. Michaela was called back rather quickly seeing that it was still early in the day.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Greene. What seems to be the problem today?", a tall young doctor stated as he entered the room.

"Well fever, chills, aches, sore throat, basic cold from what I can tell. The only reason I'm here is because I can't seem to shake this. I think I might have a sinus infection.", she shrugged.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself, Mrs. Sully", the young doctor smiled.

"It's Dr. Quinn, and I should seeing that it's my job.", she groaned as she rubbed her temples.

"Ah, I see. You're here for a second opinion then?", he chuckled.

"Yes, and a prescription if you think I need one."

"Yes, you need one. I do believe that this is a sinus infection. The drainage is what's causing the sore throat. I'm guessing that you haven't taken any time off work, and that's why you're tired and run down. As you know, you need an antibiotic to clear this up. I'll call one in for you at the pharmacy down the street. You should begin to feel better in about 24 hours. As you know, you need to get plenty of rest. I suggest you take the next 2 to 3 days to rest and recuperate."

"Thank you doctor", she sighed as she grabbed the check out slip from his hand and made her way to the door. Colleen stood as Michaela enter and the two left to pick up her medicine.

Upon arriving home, Michaela called Sully to let him know that she had gone to the clinic and was now on some medication that would hopefully get rid of this cold she'd had.

"If I could just rest peacefully, I would heal faster", she grumbled to him.

"You will, I'm going to take care of you."

"What about this weekend, Sully? You put so much thought into it, and now I've ruined it.", she whined.

"Stop worrying about me. We'll go another time. I'll see if Daniel wants the tickets. Maybe he take Colleen with him. He might even want our reservations." He began to chuckle, "especially if she's the one that took you to the clinic today. She deserves them."

"What's that suppose to mean", she groused.

"Oh, you know how you are.", he snickered. "Now get some rest and I'll see you tonight."

After hanging up the phone, Sully pulled up his email. He decided that he better send a message to Thomas about not going to the game. He didn't want him to think he was blowing him off after landing such an important client. He wasn't sure if Thomas was even planning on attending the game, but he wanted to show his appreciation anyway. He sat thinking for a minute and then began…

_Dear Mr. Brown, _

_I wanted to take the time to thank you for the tickets to this weekend's game. I'm a huge fan and these are great seats. However, my wife has become ill and I must stay home with her. Don't worry it's nothing serious but I do have to cancel. I was planning to offer the tickets to a good buddy of mine to use. I sincerely hope you don't mind, and look forward to another time that we may try this again._

_Thanks again,_

_Byron Sully_

After finishing the email, Sully copied Alex on it. After all, he'd been dealing more with her than Thomas and he wanted to make sure he covered all the bases.

He didn't hear from Thomas at all that day, but Alex wrote back right away.

_Dear Sully,_

_Sorry to hear that Michaela's sick. I was really looking forward to seeing you again. ;) Maybe you could come with your friend to the game. I'm sure your wife would be ok for the afternoon. You could drive back that night. After all, this is an important job and I would hate for my father to be disappointed. Think about it! 3 Alex_

Sully blinked at the screen again. Did she really sign her email with a heart and wink at him? He rocked back in his desk chair and ran his hands over his face. After a few minutes of contemplation he decided to go with his original plan to give the tickets to Daniel. Thomas had not written back or done anything that would indicate that this weekend was tied in any way to whether he stayed on this project or not. Alex was pouting. She was an only child who had a father that answered her every whim. He was skipping the game to be with his wife whether she liked it or not. Sully glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to set indicating that the day was ending. He closed his laptop, packed his briefcase, and prepared to leave for the day.

On his way out the door he called to his secretary, "Anna, I'm going to work from home tomorrow. Could you please forward my calls to my cell?"

"Sure, Mr. Sully. See you Monday.", she replied.

On his way home, he stopped by Daniel's apartment and dropped off the tickets to game.

Colleen was sitting on the couch, "she's pretty bad off Sully. She didn't want to do anything but sleep today. The doctor gave her some medicine, but I think it might take her a few days to start feeling normal".

"Thanks Colleen, I'm glad you were able to take her. You two have a nice time." He turned to Daniel, "I've got a room reserved at the Marriott Courtyard. You guys are welcome to take the reservation. I'm not paying for it though", he chuckled.

"Thanks man, I owe you one", Daniel patted him on the back.

Sully left and headed home. Upon arriving at the loft he found Michaela curled up on the futon. She had tissues piled everywhere. She looked so small and fragile. He walked over and brushed her hair off her forehead. She groaned and turned into his touch.

"You want some help getting to bed?" he whispered.

"That would be great", she sighed. "I need to take more medicine first though, could you hand me that bottle?"

Sully handed over the medication with a glass of water. After she took the pills he lifted her and carried her with ease to the bed. She snuggled down into the covers as he stroked her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open, "Sully, I'm sorry", she whimpered.

"Sorry?", he looked confused.

"About this weekend. I ruined it.", she rolled back over.

"You didn't get sick on purpose Michaela. This isn't your fault. Now rest and stop worrying about that, ok?", he kissed her forehead and stood to leave the room.

After walking back into the living room, Sully set up his laptop on the coffee table. He fixed himself something to eat, tossed his shoes off, and changed into something more comfortable. Once settled back on the couch, he opened his email again, and there It was…another email from Alex.

He sighed, sat back, and stared at the blinking icon for a few moments trying to decide if he wanted to open it tonight. _What the heck does she want now?_ He asked himself. He clicked on the message and all it said was _I'm going to miss seeing you this weekend __L_ 3 Alex

_What was that suppose to mean _he thought. _She's going to miss me? What does she think we are?_ He quickly closed out the email and deleted it. He did not need Michaela finding this. He hadn't done anything, but he knew how this looked. _I'm going have to talk to her_ he thought. _Not tonight, not this weekend, but as soon as I go back to the office next week I need to set her straight_ he mused. _I'm happily married and don't plan to mess that up._ Just then he heard Michaela stir and appear in the doorway.

"It's getting late. Are you coming to bed soon?", she asked drowsily.

"Yep. I'm coming right now", he smiled.

Rising from the futon, he closed his laptop and made his way to bed. Climbing into bed behind her, he spooned her and nuzzled his face into her hair thinking _I love my wife and nothing is going to disturb that._

_There you go. Enjoy! Ideas and suggestions are always welcome. I appreciate everyone's reviews, thanks for the encouragement!_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It had been a few days and Michaela was finally feeling better. She had planned to go back to work today for a full day, but Dr. Bernard had called her and told her to only work half days for the remainder of the week. She had been in bed all weekend, and even though she felt better she was still weak.

As she entered the kitchen she saw Sully bent over his laptop at the kitchen island.

"Good morning", she yawned. "Thank you for taking such good care of me these last few days."

She hugged him around the waist from behind nuzzling his neck in the process.

He smiled, "no problem, I like taking care of you."

"I'm going to get off at 3 today. How about I cook a us a nice romantic dinner tonight. I can thank you properly for taking care of me". She smiled a crooked smile as she made her way to the coffee pot.

"Sounds good. I can't wait.", he grinned. "Let's say 6? I have to meet with Alex today to finalize some things before the builders start."

" 6 works for me. I need to run some errands. Maybe I'll see if Colleen wants to hang out this afternoon.", she absentmindedly wiped at the counter. Alex had been calling a lot lately. She had been sending Sully texts all weekend. Sully kept telling her it was nothing, and she didn't need to worry about it, but she couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Tonight she was once again going to remind him why he's so in love with her.

He glanced over to see her smiling and her gaze seemed to be a million miles away. "Everything ok?", he asked.

"Yes. You do love me, don't you?", she glanced in his direction.

"Of course", he said as he strode over in her direction enveloping her in a bear hug. "I've been telling you that everyday."

"I know, I guess one can just never hear it enough", she chuckled.

"I gotta go", he sighed. "I'm going to be late for my meeting with Alex."

She stiffened at this. "Michaela, it's business. That's all, I promise.", he stared deep into her eyes. With that he was striding out the door.

Michaela sat down at the bar and picked up the morning paper. Just as she was about to read the front page, a knock sounded at the door. Assuming it was Sully, she jumped up and skipped over to open it.

Flinging it open she laughed, "what did you forget this time…", she halted when she saw it was not Sully on the other side.

"Hi Mike", smiled Alex. "I wasn't sure if Sully was going to make it to the office today so I brought some things by for him to look at." Alex was standing there smiling smug waving a manila envelope towards Michaela. Michaela's mouth hung open in surprise. Yes, it was the same Alex she remembered only older and much move curvy. The last time they'd seen each other they were only 12, now both grown women gawked at each other over what seemed like hours. The minutes passed more slowly than either could have imagined. While Alex was enjoying this much more that she should, Michaela found it to be pure torture.

"He's on his way to the office to meet you!", she snapped a little more than she intended.

"Oh, well I wasn't sure. I guess I'll just take these with me then.", she turned and began to walk away calling over her shoulder "Sully's a wonderful person to work with. I'm so glad to be spending so much time with him. He seems to be enjoying himself."

She turned and walked down the stairs with a little bounce in her step. _That'll give her something to think about_ Alex thought. She happened to see the rage that flashed across Michaela's face and it gave her even more cause to delight in the fact that she was on her way to see him. _Maybe I can convince him that he needs to work late today _she thought. _I'll use the excuse that he didn't work on Friday to get him thinking._

Michaela slammed the door to the loft shut. _That little…. She hasn't changed a bit. Always thinks she's so much better than me. _As Michaela recalled Alex standing there she couldn't help but compare herself to her. Where Alex was tall and slender, Michaela was petit. Alex was well endowed and had no problem flaunting her cleavage, where Michaela was just average and dressed more conservatively. Tonight she would have to up her game. She was going to knock Sully's socks off. She quickly called Colleen asking her if she would meet her at the hospital at 3. They could leave together and do a little shopping at Victoria's Secret before she went home today. She would stop at Macy's and look at dresses. She hadn't bought anything for herself in the longest time. This was day going to be a great, she was going to make it one despite Alex and her intentions.

At 3 sharp Colleen pulled up to the hospital and texted Michaela that she was outside and would wait for her. A few minutes later Michaela had arrived and they were currently heading toward Macy's

"She's just trying to make you jealous you know?", Colleen glanced over at Michaela who was busy digging in her purse.

"I know, she just gets under my skin. Growing up she always blamed me for things that were out of my control. I think she's trying to get back at me for something that she believes is my fault. I just hope that Sully doesn't fall for her BS". , she groaned.

"Sully loves you and would never do anything to jeopardize what the two of you have. Tell him how you feel and what you're worried about. He'll understand if he knows the history you have with her.", Colleen looked over sympathetically.

A little while later Michaela emerged from the dressing room in a beautiful dress. "I think this is the one", she stated as she stood in front of the 3 way mirror. She was pulling and smoothing it over her body as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Oh yes. That's it for sure. He's going to be so tongue tied when he sees this, especially when you turn and he sees the back.", Colleen gushed.

She was standing there in a black lace sheath. It had a high neck and long sleeves however when you turned to look at the back it was backless. A deep V went all the way down exposing everything in it's wake. A small black slip lined the dress, but the chest and sleeves were only the sheer lace. It hit mid thigh and clung to every part of her body. No surface had a wrinkle or loose spot. It fit like a second skin accentuating every natural curve and dip of her flawless frame.

"Yep, this will do the trick nicely", she giggled. "Now for something just as scandalous for underneath."

After leaving Victoria's Secret to head home Michaela took stock of what she'd bought. She didn't need a bra, the dress had one built in due to the fact that it was backless. She'd purchased black thigh highs that had a lace top and some equally sexy thongs that would leave no panty line behind. Finally, she'd topped off the look with a pair of super high black heels.

Upon entering the loft, Michaela went to change and begin cooking dinner. She hugged Colleen goodbye and thanked her for her help in shopping.

"Good luck", Colleen smiled as she left to head home.

As Sully began packing up his things to leave for the day, he heard a soft knock on the door frame of his office. When he looked up, Alex was standing there. He wasn't sure why she'd hung around after their meeting today. She kept making excuses as to why she needed to stay. He was becoming increasing annoyed by her presence.

"I was thinking that maybe you'd like to grab dinner and go over the plans again?", she smiled.

"No, I'm good. I actually need to get home. Michaela's waiting for me.", he continued to pack and huffed when she didn't give up.

"You took so much time off helping her this weekend, I thought you would want to work extra this week to make up for the time lost.", she batted her eyes at him.

This was not lost on Sully. "I told you, I can't. Not tonight, maybe another time.", he pushed past her and pulled the door to his office shut. As he was walking to the main door of the offices she trotted up behind him, "wait", she hugged him and whispered "thank you for all your time on this project." Sully reached up and removed her arms, "Alex I'm a married man, this is not appropriate." He then turned and headed home. He silently wondered what he needed to do to get his point across.

After what had just happened at the office, Sully wasn't prepared for the scene that was about to unfold in the loft. He opened the door to find Michaela carrying two dishes from the stove over to the dining table. Sully set his briefcase down on the island and pulled at his tie.

"How was your day?", she smiled at him.

"Ugh! I don't want to talk about it right now. What's for din…", he stopped talking when he looked up to take in the sight before him.

"Wow", he uttered. She looked amazing standing there.

"You like?" she asked.

"Ummm yeah. I don't know if I can eat right now", he moved forward placing his arms around her and placing a kiss to her lips. The kiss started sweet and innocent but soon turned heated when Sully felt bare skin under his hands. Michaela pulled back a little and glanced at his eyes.

"We better eat before the food gets cold. There'll be more of that later.", she purred.

After finishing dinner, Sully turned on the stereo. He walked around to where Michaela was beginning to clear the dishes and pulled them out of her hands.

"Leave it, I'll do it in the morning. I want to spend this entire night enjoying my time with you." He held out his hand, "dance with me?"

She placed the dished back on the table and moved around to enter his embrace. As he pulled her forward she placed her hands around his neck. He slipped his hands around her waist drawing small circles on the bare flesh of her back.

"I really like this dress", he groaned next to ear. "It's all I can do to not take you right here."

"I'm glad you like it", she purred into his ear. Then rising up, she grabbed the loosened tie and tugged him toward her. As his head bent down she claimed his lips in a fiery kiss. She'd held back for days not wanting him to catch her cold, now she could hardly contain herself. He groaned and dropped his hands lower onto her bottom and squeezed gently. As his hands roamed around he pulled away asking, "are you wearing underwear?"

She giggled, "yes, but I don't know if you could call it that".

"Oh Michaela, you're killing me here.", he ground out between clenched teeth.

The lights had been turned down in the loft to create a romantic mood, but the lovers didn't need any enhancement. They were lost in each other. As they continued to sway to the music, Sully's cell began to vibrate. Michaela giggled when she felt it.

"Ugh! Whoever that is I'm gonna kill them", he growled. When he pulled it from his pocket and saw Alex's name appear on the caller ID, he groaned.

"Who is it?", Michaela raised her eyebrows.

"Nobody important", he replied as he turned it off and chucked it toward the couch. "Tonight is about you and me, no one else. Nothing is as important to me as spending time with you."

He pulled her back into his embrace and tipped his head to kiss the side of her neck. Michaela began to lose herself in him as she slowly pulled his shirt tail from his pants. She drug her hands up the bare skin of his back soliciting a moan from him.

"Let's move this to the bedroom", he whispered.

Wordlessly she nodded and turned to walk towards the bedroom. She wasn't two steps away from him, when she felt him grab her from behind and lift her into his arms. When Sully placed her back on the floor, he kicked his shoes off. He wrapped his arms around her and began tugging at the hem of the dress. When it rose above her thighs, he growled at feeling bare skin. He quickly glanced down to see the lace tops of the thigh highs.

"What are you trying to do to me woman?", he chuckled. "I think I might die tonight."

She smiled and leaned in to kiss his neck. She began pulling at the buttons of his shirt until she had reached the last one, and then pushed it off his shoulders. Next she pulled at his belt and the clasp of his pants. As they pooled at his ankles she glanced down and noticed the bulge in his boxers.

"It seems that somebody's missed me", she giggled as she reached down to caress him.

"Ohhhhh god", he groaned. Then in one swift movement he lifted her dress over her head. He reached down to caress her breasts as she tossed her heals to the side.

"This is my favorite look for you", he moaned as continued to ply kisses to her neck and chest.

"But I'm hardly wearing anything", she panted at the onslaught of kisses he had unleashed on her.

"Exactly", he groaned.

He lifted her on to the bed and slowly climbed up to hover over her. "This", he fingered the thong that barely covered her, "and this" he ran his hand along the top of the thigh highs "are merely wrapping paper for the best present ever". He smiled and lowered his mouth to hers.

He began lowering his kisses down her body starting at her neck and heading downward until stopping at the navel. When he raised his head, he tugged at the lace underwear and she lifted her hips to help with his endeavors. After removing them, he moved back to her face and brushed her hair off of her brow. He reached down to the juncture between her legs and offered a soft caress. She began to writhe under him.

"I love you so much", he whispered.

"Sully, please!" she begged. "I love you too. I need you now!"

With that he moved over her and rock swiftly into her removing the pleading look for her face and replacing it with pure pleasure.

Afterwards she snuggled into his embrace burying her face into his neck.

"So, did you enjoy my thank you dinner?" she mumbled.

"Uhhh yeah, very much so", he laughed. "That was ummm, that was the best thank you I've ever gotten. I'll have to do more things to deserve it more often.", he joked.

"Sully", she smacked his chest playfully.

"Hey, you asked", he retorted.

No words were exchanged as the two snuggled under the covers basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Both felt truly blessed to have on another. Thoughts of Alex did not plague either ones mind tonight. No, tonight was about them.

_There you go…the next installment. Thank you to all of you reading thins story. I'm amazed at how many views this story is getting on a daily basis. Please review and let me know what you think._


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted. I kept changing my mind about what was going to happen next. So, finally decided and here you go! Hope you like…_

Chapter 8

6 weeks later…

Sully had been dodging calls and texts from Alex as often as possible. It wasn't easy due to the fact that he was contracted by her family to complete the Pike's Peak Resort. He tried to make sure that all communication was done in a group setting or at the office. Alex had a habit of calling him when he was out with Michaela. He was growing frustrated with her antics. Just last week, Michaela had met him after work before her night shift so they could have dinner together. Sully made the mistake of telling Alex he was going out after work. He was trying to dodge an evening meeting with her. Most of her meetings weren't really meetings, just her clever way of spending time with him.

He had just sat down to eat at a quiet booth, when Alex comes walking in the door asking if she could join them. Michaela was furious and took it out on Sully. She had told him that he needed to stop sharing so much of his private life with Alex. He had no idea how Alex had found out where he was going to be. Michaela had stormed off with some excuse about needing to get to the hospital. It had taken him all night to get her to talk to him.

Now here she was trying to horn in on more of his time. He was currently trying to leave work early to meet Michaela for dinner, again. Michaela was coming to pick him since his truck was in the shop. He was going to drop her off after dinner and drive her car home. She was suppose to work all night and was planning to walk home in the morning. He was walking through the main doors of the office when he saw her pull up. Just as she stopped and looked over to smile at him her face went stone cold. Sully turned to the side to see Alex walking up the sidewalk. She waved and smiled at him. Sully dropped his head and sighed. He opened the car door and tossed his things on the seat.

Leaning in the car he mumbled, "give me one sec". His smile pleaded with her to be patient.

"Sully, where are you going? I was just coming to see you. I really need to talk to you about some of the changes that we want to make.", Alex plastered on a cunning smile.

"I can't right now. You can leave them with Anna and I'll look at them tomorrow.", he responded stoically. "I'm heading out with my wife and as you can see, she's waiting.", he pointed at the car.

"Well, I hope you know that my father will be quiet upset if these changes aren't done to his liking, so I hope you can understand when I say I really need to talk to you now.", she demanded.

Slumping his shoulders Sully leaned into the car to plead with Michaela for understand. "You want to park and come in? Apparently I still have work to do and I have no idea how long in might take."

"Not really", she growled "but I guess I have no choice if I want to see you tonight." She pulled up slightly and parked in the closest spot she could find on the street. Sitting in the car she worked to pull herself together. She'd been so emotional lately. She was really tired of the stress that Alex was putting on their relationship. Sully acted like he didn't even know what Alex was doing, but Michaela was watching the nightmare unfold right in front of her. A lone tear slipped down her cheek. _I will not let her see me cry. Suck it up Mike. You're better than this._

Michaela stood as Sully pulled his things from the car. She glanced over at his haggard appearance and suggested that she get takeout. Sully smiled slightly and agreed. He would go back in with Alex to go over these so called changes, and Michaela would go to the sub shop down the street and get dinner for the two of them. They'd eat in his office alone and then he could take her to work.

She hugged him and then began her walk. Sully made his way in with Alex hot on his heels. Alex smiled to herself. She could see the doubt in Michaela's eyes, and knew that her presence was forcing a wedge between the two. When they got in Sully's office, Alex unrolled the plans and began pointing out the changes to Sully. Other than a few boundary changes, there really wasn't much of a difference. Sully was growing angry that she had ruined his night with Michaela for this.

Just then Michaela was making her way down the hall towards Sully's office when she heard them talking. She stopped not wanting to interrupt, but when she began to listen to the conversation she froze.

"You can't keep doing this to me", Sully groused. "You can't keep calling me and texting me when I'm with Michaela."

Alex saw Michaela in the hall and decided to take advantage of the situation. Sully had his back to the door and didn't know she was there.

"What do mean?", Alex played off innocently. "You know that we need this time together. You've never complained before. I need to be able to count on you."

"You CAN count on me, you know that. But Alex, whatever it is that you think is going on has to stop.", he was trying to put distance between them but she kept moving closer.

"What is going on?", Alex questioned. "I know you feel something. Something that you just don't realize yet. I want you, and I think that you want me." She moved closer until she was right in front of him. She placed her hand on his chest and just as he began to push her away, Michaela stalked in.

"Get away from my husband you lying B#%&#", she warned.

"I'm not the one who's been lying. Why don't you ask your husband who all the late night calls he's been leaving your bed to take have been coming from", she smirked.

Michaela turned wide eyed and open mouthed towards Sully. "What is she talking about?"

Alex smirked, "oh you didn't know? We've been meeting up for a while."

"Michaela, it isn't what you think, nothings happened.", Sully began to move toward her but she through up her hands. He turned towards Alex, "get out".

Michaela took this opportunity to get away from both of them. She dropped the bag of subs, turned and ran towards her car. Sully began to run after her, "Michaela wait!"

"Leave me alone", she cried over her shoulder. She got to the car, got in, and locked the doors before Sully could enter. "Michaela please", he banged on the window and pulled at the door handle. She started the car and took off leaving him standing on the sidewalk. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Alex come rushing out of the building and throw her arms around him. If she had looked up again, she would have seen him shove her away, but she didn't. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to drive away.

"You need to get away from me", he barked.

"She doesn't love you like I do", Alex pleaded.

"You need to get away from me", he shouted again.

Alex backed up and coward away from him. "I love you", she screamed. "My father will make sure that you lose this job. I'm the reason you got it. I sold you to him. You owe me."

"I don't owe you anything. That woman that you just made turn away from me? She owns me. Everything I am, I am because of her. She makes me whole, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make this right. Take my job, I don't care.", he growled. He stalked back into the building leaving her on the sidewalk to stew.

Sully grabbed his cell and tried calling Michaela. It went straight to voicemail. Next he called Daniel and asked him to come and pick him up seeing that he didn't have a ride.

Daniel arrived 10 minutes later. "Please tell me she called Colleen?", Sully pleaded.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to Colleen all day. She's been on call at the hospital.", Daniel sighed.

"Can you take me by the hospital?" Sully asked.

"Yep, that's where we're heading now.", he smiled. "Don't worry, we'll fix this."

When Michaela had gotten to the hospital, she'd seen Colleen walking out towards the parking garage. "Colleen, wait", she shouted. Colleen turned to see Michaela racing towards her. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and she had tears streaming down her face. Colleen embraced her in a hug as she sank to the ground.

"What's wrong?", she questioned.

"It's Sully, I think he's having an affair.", she sobbed.

"What? Are you sure?"

"I don't know, but it sure sounded like it to me.", she continued to cry. Michaela began to tell Colleen the entire sordid affair as the two walked down the street to the local coffee shop.

When Sully and Daniel arrived at the hospital they noticed Michaela's car in the parking garage but she didn't answer the page when they had a nurse page her.

"She must not be on the floor yet", the young nurse suggested.

"Can you please have her call me the minute she checks in", Sully begged.

"Sure, Mr. Sully", I'll let her know you stopped by.

Neither of the gentlemen knew that she was only 2 blocks away pouring her heart out to Colleen.

Meanwhile Colleen had convinced Michaela to call Dr. Bernard and ask for a personal day. "You're not going to make it through your shift in this condition", Colleen reasoned.

"You're right, I just feel bad taking so much time off. I haven't felt well this last week and I was sick not to long ago. I'm just not that person, Colleen. I'm better than all of this. You know me. I don't give up easily."

"Why don't you come home with me? Leave your car at the hospital and I'll take you to my place. You can sleep in the spare bedroom and we'll talk about all of this. Have a girls night, what do you say?", she nudged her and gave her a half smile.

"Ok, but I don't want to see him tonight. I need time to process all of this and figure out what I'm going to do.", she pleaded.

The girls walked back to the hospital garage and climbed into Colleen's car. Neither bothered to go in the hospital, so they didn't get the message that Sully had been by looking for them. When they arrived back at Colleen's apartment, they noticed that Daniel's truck was missing.

"Guess he went out", Colleen mused.

"Probably to get Sully", Michaela mumbled in return. "I kind of left him stranded at work.

After settling in the guestroom, Michaela passed out. She was tired to begin with, and today's events had completely drained her. She'd been really tired lately, but she figured it was just her body getting used to the night shift again. She'd only been on it for 2 weeks and was having a hard time sleeping during the day. Colleen was cooking dinner, waiting on Daniel to come home from wherever he was. She had just tossed some spaghetti in a pot of water when she heard the lock jingle. Daniel came striding in with a worried look on his face.

"Have you talked to or seen Michaela today?", he blurted out.

"Yeah, she's sleeping in the guestroom right now.", Colleen sighed. "She's had a rough day. I told her she could stay here tonight.

Daniel texted Sully to let him know he had found her, and that she was ok.

"Sully's been going out of his mind looking for her. We've been all over the city. Why didn't you call me and let me know she was with you?", he demanded.

"Wait right there", she returned. "She's my friend and needed my help, and I don't need your permission for that".

"Well Sully's going to flip out when he finds out that she's been with you all day."

Just then there was a knock at the door. Daniel went to answer it. As soon as he opened the door he found Sully standing there. He looked awful. His hair was in disarray, his shirt half untucked, anguish splayed across his face.

"Where is she?", he pleaded. "I need to talk to her."

"I don't want to see you right now", came Michaela's voice from the hallway.

Daniel and Colleen spun around to see her turn to walk back in the room and close the door.

"Please", he begged. "You don't understand. Nothing happened between me and Alex. I wouldn't let it. Please talk to me. I need you to listen to me."

Colleen walked over to the door. "She needs time to process this. I think you need to go." she stated.

"I can't just leave her here.", he sighed. "I love her. She needs to know that."

"She will", she assured. "But right now, she needs time and space and I plan to make sure she gets it."

Sully turned to leave and slumped as he made his way to the taxi that was waiting for him.

"For what it's worth", Colleen shouted, "I believe you".

_Ok, so I know it doesn't seem like a happily ever after, but give it time. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm hoping to not take as long to post the next one. I'm already working on it, so maybe later this week._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sully spent the next 8 hours tossing and turning in bed. He moved from the bed to the couch and back to the bed. Sleep was avoiding him, and his mind was racing through all the different scenarios that could play out in the next 24 hours. He had to fix this, the problem was he didn't really know how. He needed to separate himself from Alex. She was at the root of all of this. She had caused this breech. He punched his pillow again and growled in anger. He loved his wife, he'd done nothing to bring this on. She needed to know that he wasn't encouraging this behavior. If anything, he was discouraging it. The one time he had made himself vulnerable to being alone with Alex, she had taken advantage of it. She'd made sure that Michaela thought the worst of what was going on.

As he began to play the days events over in his mind, his thoughts drifted back to his wife. How hurt she'd looked. The look of utter betrayal on her face. He'd never seen her look at him that way, not since Abby had interrupted a date when they'd first met. That had been so far in the past that he thought he'd never see it again. Michaela had been emotional for days. He assumed that all the stress from work was getting to her. Maybe this was the breaking point, maybe she was finally going to rid herself of all this. After hours of twisting himself into knots, he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Michaela emerged from the bedroom just as Colleen was finishing the dishes. "Would you like some dinner? I made extra just in case. You really should eat, you look a little pale."

"That would be great, thanks.", she sat down at the kitchen table.

"So, do you want to tell me what you want to do about this now?", Colleen asked.

"I don't know what I want to do. I mean, I saw them. It was pretty clear that he's cheating on me. I mean, getting up in the middle of the night to talk to her? What's that about? If nothing's going on with them, why would he need to make late night phone calls? Why would he feel the need to hide them from me?", tears began to well in her eyes again.

"I don't know how to answer any of that. Have you asked him?", she was bringing over a plate of spaghetti and sat down at the table. "I mean, did you let him explain any of this?"

"What is there to explain? I heard them talking. I know what she said. She said that he was leaving my bed to be with her!", she slammed her fist down on the table rattling the glasses.

"Good, get mad. I'm glad to see you're still in there", Daniel appeared in the doorway.

Michaela spun around and dropped her mouth open, "what!" she exclaimed. "Why is this a good thing?"

"Listen, I don't know everything that's been going on between the two of you lately. I don't know anything about this woman who seems to think that she can have your husband. BUT I do know that Sully loves you more than life itself, and he would go to the ends of the earth for you. He would never do this to you. I know him better than anybody, and I know that whatever you thought you saw or heard…there's more to it than what you think. You need to talk to him." Daniel turned and walked out of the room.

"He's right you know?", Colleen placed her hand on top of Michaela's. "Sully loves you more than any man could love a woman. He'd do anything to prove that to you. Talk to him. Find out the whole story.", she begged.

"I will, tomorrow. Right now I just need to think.", she sighed. With that, she stood and made her way back to the bedroom. After tossing around awhile she finally fell asleep.

The next morning Michaela woke early. She got dressed and asked Colleen to take her back to the hospital to pick up her car. She had the day off. If she had worked yesterday, it would have been her first day off in 3 weeks. She had been picking up extra shifts lately to help out several of her friends.

She arrived home at around 6am. All the lights were out in the loft. As she entered she saw remnants of food on the counter, some empty beer bottles by the sink, and Sully passed out across the bed. She stood for what felt like hours just observing the site before her. She was so worn down, so tired of over analyzing whatever this problem was. She thought she knew what she wanted. She was going to leave. But when she saw Sully in such distress, she knew the right thing to do would be to talk to him. She brewed a pot of coffee, made herself a cup, and sat down at the table to wait for him to wake.

About an hour later, as the sun was rising to send filtered light into the bedroom, Sully stirred. He rubbed his eyes and sat up on the edge of the bed. He picked up the jeans that lay discarded on the floor near him and pulled them on. When he stood to walk out of the room, he froze in the doorway. There she was like a dream, sitting at the table. He ran his hand through his messy hair, and began to shuffle in her direction.

"Michaela?", he gasped.

She turned and put her coffee down on the table. She offered him a cold stare, but didn't turn away.

"Please, listen to me!", he begged.

"That's why I'm here", she snapped. "What's going on with you? I thought we were going to be together forever. I thought you loved me?", she scowled.

"I do, and we are. Just let me explain."

"You sure have funny way of showing it", she snapped.

"Please", he pleaded. "Just listen to me. There's nothing going on with me and Alex. I don't feel anything for her. Yes, she bugs me a lot. She shows up places, she calls at weird times, she texts me, sends me emails…it doesn't mean anything. You're the one I want. YOU! I don't want her. I've done nothing with her. No date, no meetings that didn't involve the entire planning committee. Nothing! I've never touched her, or kissed her, or shown her in anyway that I want to be with her….", he was kneeling in front of her at this point. "Do you understand? Nothing."

"Why is she calling you in the middle of the night?", she begged. "I heard her. She said that you talk to her in the middle of the night."

"She's called me once in the middle of the night. I got out of bed so I wouldn't wake you. I've never called her. I told her not to call me anymore after business hours. I told you. I've done nothing to encourage this."

"Why don't you stop her? Tell her you can't work for her anymore? Sully you don't understand, I know her. She's not going to stop until she gets what she wants. That happens to be you. She's going to keep this up. The only way you're going to stop her, is to stop working for her."

"I can't Michaela, this is a big job. I can't walk away from it. It's too important. If I leave this, it'll ruin me. I'll never find work after this. I'm going to talk to her father. He seems like a reasonable man. We'll work something out."

She shook her head from side to side, "I'm really trying to trust you right now. I am, but she sounded so convincing. It's like she knew I was there and was trying to make think that you're having an affair."

"She probably did know you were there, and that's exactly what she wanted you to think. I'm telling you, nothing has happened between us. I wouldn't let it. I love you. I want you, nobody else. Please tell me that you believe me.", he pleaded.

"Do you think that maybe you could stay home today? I think we need some time together. Just the two of us. I have the day off. Maybe we could go somewhere for the day. Please?", she offered a half smile.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me. Let me call Rick and tell him I'm taking the day off.", he sighed.

They stood at the same time and he opened his arms to her. She leaned into him and sighed before tears began to fall freely again.

"I'm sorry", she sobbed. I don't want anything to come between us. We've worked far to hard for some crazy b #$% to come between us."

"Me either", he sighed. "I love you so much. I was so worried that you weren't going to come home."

He leaned forward to brush a soft kiss to her lips, but just then her hand flew up to her mouth. She stepped back out of his embrace and flew to the bathroom. Sully stood locked in place for a moment before he turned to follow her. He heard her wretch up the meager contents of her stomach. She'd only had coffee so there wasn't much in her to come up. She was pulling her hair back and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand just as he rounded the corner.

"You ok?", he raised his brow.

"Yes, I've been so stressed lately that I haven't been eating right. I think I might be coming down with something.", she sighed.

"You sure? We really shouldn't be going somewhere if you don't feel right.", he suggested.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a minute.", she turned and drank some water from the sink.

After Sully left the room, she sat on the closed lid of the toilet and tried to pull herself together. The longer she sat, the more her so called cold began to not sound like a cold at all. She mentally checked off her symptoms…tired, upset stomach, emotional wreck. This was not possible. It couldn't mean what she thought it meant. The doctor in her was telling her one thing, but the woman in her was saying differently. How was she going to get through today without letting Sully know what she thought might be her problem? She was on the pill, this couldn't be happening. No, this was stress it had to be. What if she was wrong though? She and Sully had talked about this. They weren't ready. How would he react to this. They were on shaky ground as it was now. This was sure to finish them off. He didn't want this. He'd made himself perfectly clear about it months ago. There's no way he had changed his mind since then.

She could hear him on his phone out in the living area. She pulled herself together, and went to change into clean clothes. Just as she emerged from the bedroom, Sully was going through his briefcase.

"I have to go to the office real quick. Rick needs me to drop off these contracts for him, then I'm all yours.", he smiled at her.

She plastered the best smile she could muster, "I'm going to run by the drug store and get some medicine for my stomach just in case I start feeling bad later. I'll see you back here after you run your errands?"

"Sounds good. I'll be back in about an hour", he waved at her as he slipped through the door.

As soon as he left in her car, she raced out the door and walked to the pharmacy 3 blocks away. She rushed in and went to the family planning isle to grab a home test. _I can't believe I'm doing this_ she said to herself. She paid, and rushed home.

She still had plenty of time when she got back to perform the test before Sully got back. She rushed into the bathroom, used the test, placed it on the counter, and waited. It was the longest 3 minutes of her life. When the timer went off, she stood to look at the result. Two little blue lines stared back at her. _Oh no_ she thought. _This can't be happening right now. It's not suppose to be like this. This is suppose to be a happy time, not one filled with dread._ She quickly buried the test at the bottom of the trash can and went to call the hospital. She scheduled an appointment with Dr. Bernard for that evening. She didn't know what type of excuse she would use to get away from Sully, but she needed to know if it was true. Was she really pregnant? Were she and Sully going to have a baby? How did this happen? While she knew that no birth control was 100% effective, she didn't think she'd be worrying about this right now. She and Sully had been quiet active lately, but she didn't think she had anything to worry about. How was she going to tell him this, especially after the night they'd just gone through? She had to be sure, that much she knew.

Just as she was placing the phone down, Sully strode in and tossed some papers on the counter, "ready to go?"

"Sure", she smiled. "Colleen needs my help with something tonight, so I need to be home by 5:30."

"Ok, let's go then", he turned and held the door for her.

She nervously walked out to the car past him hoping that her deception wasn't plastered on her face. She had sent Colleen a cryptic text asking her to meet her at the hospital tonight at 6:45. She wanted some support, but she didn't want to say anything to Sully until she was sure.

The two made there way down to the car and headed out of town toward the countryside. Sully wanted to have a quiet day amerced in nature. If he only knew the storm that was brewing. The young couple's world was getting ready to be completely turned on it's axis. Michaela sighed as she stared out the window, nerves balled in her stomach. _There's nothing I can do until I see a doctor_ she kept telling herself. All these questions that were haunting her would be answered with tonight's results.

_So I rushed to get this chapter up since I left you guys on edge with the last one. I know there's still some turmoil going on here, but they resolved their fight, sort of. LOL_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Michaela absentmindedly stared out the window as Sully drove up into the mountains. He was lost in thought also. As they left the main road he slowed and looked in her direction.

He stopped the car for a minute and turned to cup her cheek, "I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. Can we please try and fix this today. Will you keep an open mind?"

"I want to fix this. I don't like having things so tense between us, but I'm not sure how.", she turned toward him and reached up to grab the hand that was touching her face.

"I've got an idea of where to go. Do you trust me?", he glanced at her.

"Yes, just remember I want to be back by dinner time."

He continued to drive up a dirt road to an area where he could pull over. He got out and grabbed a blanket and takeout bag from the trunk, then walked around to open Michaela's door.

"We have to walk the rest of the way", he smiled at her.

When she stood, she began to sway slightly.

"You ok?", he asked with a worried look on his face.

"I'm fine. Just stood up too fast", she assured.

He grabbed her hand and began leading her deep into the woods.

"Not many people know about this place", he called over his shoulder. "I used to come here to think when I was younger. No one ever bothered me. I thought it would be a nice place to spend the afternoon."

After they had been walking for about 20 minutes they came into a clearing. As she looked around, Michaela could tell it was a very private setting. You couldn't hear any traffic, and no one was within miles of them.

"It's beautiful", she gasped. "How come no one knows about this place?"

"Because there's no other access to get here than walking. People don't want to put in the effort to get here.", he shrugged his shoulders.

As she glanced around, Sully spread out the blanket. There were a grove of trees surrounding them. A small stream along one side of a grassy knoll that came to a large pool in front of them. There was a small waterfall across from the pool, and the sun hit just right to create a sparkling effect. It looked like a scene out of a fairy tale.

Michaela sat on the blanket and kicked off her shoes. Sully did the same and turned to face her.

"I love you, you know that right. I would never do anything to hurt you. I've never shared this place with anyone. I brought you here today because I want this place to be special to us.", he reached for her hand and kissed it's back softly.

"I know you do. We need this. Time to ourselves. I think we need to make a point of spending more time together. I need to work on expressing myself better too. I should have told you how I felt rather than get so angry."

She turned and put her back toward Sully. He opened his legs and let her slide between them. Leaning back on his chest she sighed and snuggled in. Sully could tell that something was on her mind, but she didn't seem like she was ready to share it yet.

"Michaela, is something else bothering you?", he whispered softly.

"No, why do you ask?", she turned slightly.

"You seem like something's on you mind.", he questioned.

"No, I've had a lot happen in the last 2 days. I'm just trying to process it all and move on.", her voice began to rise and a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to upset you.", he hugged her and placed a kiss to her temple. "You feel like cooling off? The pool over there is about 5 feet deep. We can swim."

"Sully, I don't have a bathing suit with me.", she scolded.

"So, it's private here. No one is going to bother us. Come on.", he stood and held out his hand.

She glanced around nervously and looked back at Sully. He was already shirtless and was beginning to remove his pants when she looked up.

"I don't know, what if somebody sees us?" she pleaded. "It's so open around here."

"I've been coming here for years, and no one has ever walked up on me. Trust me, you'll feel so much better in the cool water.", he held out his hand again.

She stood and removed her shorts and looked longingly at the water. It was hot out today. Even though it was near the end of the summer, they were having a hot spell and it had been in the upper 80s for several days. She kept glancing around nervously, but Sully was way ahead of her. He had shucked his boxers already and was pulling at her shirt.

"Come on", he begged. "I won't let anyone see you."

She gave in and let him pull her shirt over her head. "Hey. I love you. What's wrong?" He pulled her into a hug and she tilted her head to look into his eyes.

"I'm not used to being this exposed. We're usually in the comfort of our home.", she whispered.

"It's just me", he leaned in to kiss her and reached around to unclasp her bra. "I'm not going to let anyone see us. Promise!" He pushed at the top of her panties. She gave into the kiss and began to relax. After tossing the remaining items over to the blanket, Sully swept her up into his arms. She squealed in surprise. Leaving no time for her to fight him off, he jogged around to the edge of the pool.

"No, don't you dare!", she shouted. "Please Sully, no!"

He leaned in to kiss her, and then took a flying leap with her still in his arms. When they surfaced sputtering, she glared at him.

"I can't believe you just did that!", she exclaimed.

"It's easier to just jump in. Takes the shock of the cold away.", he smiled cheekily. "You're not mad, are you?"

"No, not mad. Cold, but not mad. Beware, I'll get even with you.", she smiled and than swam away from him.

They spent the next half hour swimming and playing in the water. It felt refreshing and the troubles from the previous night seemed to wash away with the beads of water.

"Ready for lunch?", Michaela swam up to him. "I am a little hungry", his stomach let out a large growl right then.

"What are we going to dry off with?", she questioned.

"See that bundle over by the blanket? It's got towels in it. I came prepared.", he chuckled.

"So you knew that I'd say yes to swimming, did you?", she smiled cheekily.

"Well, I was hoping.", he retorted.

"So, are we even now that you splashed me so much?", he cocked his head to the side as she approached him.

She slid herself into his embrace and leaned in inches from his face. She reached up and pushed a wet lock of hair off his forehead. He reached around her waist and leaned in to kiss her. As he gently brushed his lips over hers, she crashed her body into his. The kiss spiraled out of control at a rapid pace. Her tongue swept through his mouth and he groaned as she trailed her hand down his chest towards the thin line of hair below his navel. Reaching farther she brushed up against him. Just as he was beginning to lower his hand from her waist, she stepped back. She began to swim toward the edge of the pool. Sully stood dumbfounded questioning her actions.

"Now we're even", she smirked.

"What? You can't leave me like this.", he begged.

"Payback", she winked. "Next time, don't throw me in the water." She raised herself out of the pool and sauntered over to the blanket to grab a towel.

Sully stood frozen in place for a few minutes before he realized that she really was going to leave him like that.

"You don't play fair", he laughed. "I can't believe you just did this to me." He swam to the edge and pulled himself out. As he walked over to the blanket in all his glory, she blushed when she saw the evidence of her payback.

"Enjoying your handy work?", he smirked.

He plopped down on the blanket next to her. Leaning in next to his ear she whispered, "just remember, I don't get mad, I get even!"

_So, I know that this is a short chapter, but after all the recent heartache I wanted to have a happy one. I won't be posting again until next week. Thank you to everyone that's been reading this story. I never fancied myself as a writer. Your support brightens my day._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After they had finished their lunch, Michaela had curled up on the blanket and fallen asleep. The warm afternoon sun felt good on her skin and she had had a hard time keeping her eyes open. Sully had spent most of the afternoon sitting beside her watching her sleep. He was content in knowing that things were finally moving in a positive direction. As the sun began to make it's decent in the sky, Sully began packing their things up. He leaned over her and rubbed her arm gently.

"Michaela, we need to get going.", he coaxed her awake.

She groaned and rolled in his direction, "What time is it?", she yawned.

"It's almost 5", he replied. "I thought you said you needed to meet Colleen at 5:30. We need to go if you still plan on doing that."

She shot up to a sitting position at the mention of Colleen. Sully raised his eyebrows, "what's got you so worried. I'm sure she'll be ok if you're a little late."

"No, I can't be late", she fumbled. "I promised her", she frantically looked around for her shoes.

"Relax", he rubbed her back. "We'll be back in plenty of time. I figured we could stop by the garage and you could drop me off. My truck is suppose to be ready this afternoon. Then we don't have to share a car anymore. You can go straight from there to meet Colleen."

Within minutes they were both standing. Sully had their things in his hand, and began walking in the direction of the car. When Michaela stood, she swayed a little. She grabbed onto a tree to steady herself.

"You sure you're feeling alright? That's the second time that's happened today. Maybe you should see a doctor.", Sully asked concerned.

"I'm fine", she snapped. She didn't mean to be so short with him, but she wasn't ready to reveal her secret yet. If he only knew that she was going to see a doctor this afternoon, one that would confirm what was becoming more apparent as the day went on.

When they reached the car, she got in as Sully placed their things in the trunk.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I'm not mad at you, but I am a doctor I know when something's wrong. Please stop asking me if everything is alright. I promise I'll tell you if I'm not ok, ok?", she glanced at him with hope in her eyes. She wanted him to drop the inquisition.

He looked back at her, "Ok" he sighed. "I'll stop", he leaned over and gave her a quick peck and then started the car.

After dropping Sully off at the garage and promising to bring home some takeout, Michaela drove to the hospital to meet Colleen. When she got there, Colleen was sitting on a bench out front.

"What's with all the secrets?", Colleen asked. "I had a hard time getting away from Daniel today. After everything that's happened recently, he didn't want to let me out of his sight. He thinks we've got something we're hiding. Do we?"

"I don't know yet, but I have a feeling that we do.", Michaela sighed. While saying this she glanced down at her stomach. "I haven't felt good for the last week or so. I've been really tired. This morning I got sick and lost all of my breakfast. Then while we were out today I've been having dizzy spells."

"Well you do know you've had a hellacious week, right? I mean with everything that's happened lately, I'm amazed that you're still standing", Colleen hugged her.

"Well, let's get this over with and then we'll decide if there's anything to worry about.", Michaela grabbed her hand and they walked in to go up to the OBGYN floor.

As the elevator climbed higher, where they were going finally dawned on Colleen. "Michaela are you?", she looked at her and her mouth dropped open.

"I don't know yet", she growled frustrated. "Are you just now figuring out what I've been trying to tell you?"

"Better late to that party than never", Colleen chuckled. "You've had me in some crazy situations lately. I just want to make sure that I go into this with my eyes open. What does Sully think?", she glanced sideways at her.

"He doesn't know", Michaela glared. "I haven't told him yet. He doesn't want a baby yet. He thinks we're too young, that we're not settled enough. Need a house, that sort of thing".

"Michaela, you need to tell him. He'll want this baby when he finds out. Remember, he was suppose to marry Abby when he thought she was pregnant? He was a lot younger then than he is now. I think he might be scared about being a father. He should be the one here with you, not me.", Colleen pulled her out of the elevator.

"Well, once I know what I'm dealing with, then I'll decide how and what to tell him. Until then, you have to keep this between us. I'm already seeing a doctor that I work for on the floor that I work on. Do you have any idea how hard this is going to be to hide?"

"Fine, I won't say anything, but I'm not going to lie.", she shrugged.

"Let's find out if there's anything to worry about first", Michaela suggested.

Once at the nurses station the girls were sent into a room off to the side. Michaela was instructed to disrobe and put on a gown. Colleen sat in a chair off to the side to offer support when needed. Dr. Bernard came in shortly after.

"Dr. Quinn, what can I do for you today?", Dr. Bernard asked.

"Well I…I'd like to ummmm confirm a pregnancy", she stumbled. "I'm not sure if what I've been experiencing are symptoms or not."

"Is there a reason that you think you might not be pregnant?", he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I've been on the pill for a year now. I've never missed one. I know that birth control is not 100% effective, but I was under the impression that I wouldn't be worrying about this right now."

"Well let's take a look and see, shall we?", he patted her on the arm.

She leaned back on the table so the doctor could begin his exam. "How long have you had these symptoms?", he queried.

"About 10 days I guess", she shrugged and winced at the same time.

He noticed her discomfort, "Sorry, almost done. Have you been active during this time?"

"Yes", she stiffened again.

He moved up around to the side of the table and began jotting down notes. She sat up and hung her legs over the side of the table.

"Any soreness in you breasts?", he continued to write.

"Yes, a little but I figured it was because of my monthly", she shrugged.

"And when was that?" he glanced at her.

"Well, I'm a little late, but that's not unusual for me. I'm never on time. It's been that way since I was a teen. That's part of the reason I take the pill, to help regulate me.", she shrugged.

"Well Dr. Quinn, we need to set you up with some blood work. You're pregnant!", he smiled.

Michaela's face fell, "what? How did this happen? I mean I know how it happened, but why didn't the birth control work?", she was frantic at this point.

"You took time off a while back because of illness. Did you take any antibiotics during that time?", he asked.

"Yeeeaahhh" she nodded.

"Well sometimes they counteract with the birth control rendering it useless. Were you active during that time?"

"Yes", she placed her hand over her mouth. Their romantic dinner and the night of lovemaking that followed flashed through her mind. _We made a baby that night_ she thought to herself.

"Don't worry", he patted her knee. "We've got plenty of time to get everything squared away. You're still quite early in the pregnancy.", he smiled.

"How far along?", she asked.

"I'd say about 5 weeks maybe 6. I put your due date around May 30th. We need to set up an ultrasound to check and make sure, but I'd say based on your age and health that this baby will go full term and be healthy. Stop by the nurses station to set up another appointment and schedule your blood tests. If you'd like to continue to see me, you can see me at my clinic. That will give you some privacy, however it won't take long for people to notice.", he smiled and offered his congratulations again.

Michaela dressed in silence and tried to calm herself. _What am I going to do? How am I going to tell him? I can't believe that this is happening._ She continued to mutter to herself.

"Michaela, you do want this baby, right?", Colleen edged.

"Yes, more than anything. I've been wanting a baby for a while now. Sully knows that. He's going to think that I did this on purpose. He's going to think that I planned for this to happen, that he didn't have a choice in it.", she began to tear up.

"He loves you, do you hear me? He's going to love this baby too. You guys did this together. Last I checked it took two people to make a baby.", she nudged her in the side.

"You're right. I'm not ready to tell him yet though", she sighed. "Please don't tell him".

"I won't, but the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be on both of you.", she sighed.

Once out in front of the hospital the two hugged by promising to meet for coffee soon. Michaela got in her car and headed home. After stopping at the local 5 Guys and grabbing some burgers, she made her way to the loft.

Upon entering the loft she found Sully pacing with his phone up to his ear.

"Yes sir, thank you sir. I understand. That's what I want. Thank you. I'll keep in touch. See you tomorrow.", he hung up.

"What was that all about?", she placed the bag of food on the table.

"I was talking to Thomas", he sighed as he saw her flinch. "I don't want to fight about this right now, but I want to be honest with you.", he held up his hands.

"What did he say about his daughter", she spat the last part out like a bad taste in her mouth.

"He said he'd make sure that she understood that she needed to stay at the building sight. He would get someone else to update me daily, and when I had to work at the sight he'd keep her at his office. I'm telling you he's a nice guy. He knows how Alex can be. He doesn't condone it, but she's his daughter.", he sat down at the table. "Let's eat."

Michaela relaxed and tried to let the tension leave her body. "Thank you. I love you so much." She sat on his lap and hugged him fiercely. Leaning in, she placed a kiss on his lips trying to convey how much better she felt about the Alex situation. How she knew that he was taking a chance with this job by going to Thomas. How grateful she was that he did this for her.

"What was that for?", he smiled.

"Just a thank you for being you. Being the man that I love and who would do anything for me." she smiled.

After they finished eating, Michaela stood. "I'm going to get ready for bed. I'm tired and I have to work tomorrow."

"I'll join you. It's been a long couple of days", he stood and followed her to the bedroom.

After changing, they climbed into bed together. Sully slid up behind Michaela and wrapped his arm tightly around her spooning her. "I missed this last night", he mumbled into her ear. She tensed slightly but then relaxed.

"Michaela is something wrong? What happened with Colleen today?"

"It was nothing, just girl talk. You know we do need other people to talk to then you and Daniel." she laughed lightly. "I'm fine. Let's go to sleep.", she sighed and snuggled into him more. As he drifted into a restful sleep, Michaela lay replaying the day in her mind._ You're pregnant! 5 or 6 weeks along. Full term healthy baby. How was she going to tell him? When was she going to tell him?_ She knew that it needed to be soon. She reached down and caressed her still flat stomach. _I love you already little one_ she whispered. _Your daddy's gonna love you too_ just you wait.

_**There you go. The next installment. Enjoy. Thank you for all the reviews. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this!**_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It had been a week since the big blow up over Alex, and things seemed to be slowly falling into place. Sully hadn't had any run ins at work, and Michaela had gone back to her normal routine at the hospital. She was working days this week, so she and Sully were able to see more of each other. She had found if she ate a few crackers in the morning, the morning sickness wasn't as bad. She was currently trying to work up the courage to tell Sully. She'd been successful in avoiding it so far, but her clothes were slowly getting tighter and she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer. She wasn't showing by any means, but she was putting on weight.

They were currently in the shower together. The goal was to speed up the process of getting ready, but neither of them had that on their mind.

"You know, I could stay like this forever", he whispered in her ear. He had her pinned to the shower wall with his body. Soapy water was running down her legs as his back blocked the steamy water from hitting her.

"I thought we were trying to hurry", she giggled.

He growled and leaned in to press a firm kiss to her lips which soon turned heated. As his tongue swept through her mouth his arms reached down to grab the backs of her thighs. He lifted her up and she braced her arms against the wall.

"Sully", she gasped. "What's gotten into you". She panted as his fingers roamed her body. She ran her hands down his chest as he pressed harder into her.

"It's been 3 days", he panted. "I want you so bad". His tongue made another sweep as she gave into his ministrations. She wanted him too, she had only been afraid that he would notice the changes in her body. She had kept him at a distance.

With one final lift against the wall, he joined them. She pressed against him and drug her nails down his back. He threw his head back and groaned in delight. After both had reached their summit, he placed her feet back on the floor.

"That was….WOW", he panted.

"Yeah….Wow", she smiled. "So you missed me huh?", she rubbed against him.

"You could say that", he smiled. "I'm going to get out and work on fixing us something to eat."

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to grab something on the way. I'm really not that hungry.", she explained. She was worried if she tried to eat one of Sully's big breakfasts that she'd get sick and he'd start with the "are you alright" questions again.

"Ok, you finish up in here, and I'll see you in a few minutes?", he raised his brow.

"Sure", she kissed him quickly on the cheek.

When Michaela was stepping out of the shower she heard Sully rummaging around in the kitchen. She couldn't make out what he was doing. When she stepped into the bedroom doorway, she saw him opening and closing cabinets.

"What are you looking for?", she asked.

"I've can feel a headache coming on, I wanted to take some aspirin but I can't seem to find any.", he mumbled.

"There's a bottle in my purse on the counter. You can take those. They're the same kind we usually use just a different bottle because they're from the hospital.", she shouted as she moved deeper into the bedroom.

"Thanks", he replied.

She continued to dig through the clean clothes. She was looking for scrubs. They were comfortable and loose. Her breasts were already swelling due to the pregnancy and the loose fabric helped hide this. Just as she finished pulling her scrub top over her head she heard Sully call her.

"Yeah?", she asked as she walked into the kitchen towel drying her hair.

"Why are you seeing Dr. Bernard?", he asked with a confused look on his face.

"What?" she asked. "How did you? I mean, where did you?" she walked over to where he was standing and saw the appointment card in his hand.

"I found this when I was looking for the aspirin. I'm going to ask again, why are you seeing Dr. Bernard?"

She could tell he was fighting to keep his temper in check. His hand was trembling as he made his way around to where she was standing. "You promised me that we wouldn't keep things from each other.", he demanded.

"Sully…I…I meant to tell you, I just couldn't", she fumbled.

He reached into her purse again and grabbed the birth control pill packet out and tossed it in her direction, "Does it have anything to do with these?" he boomed.

"Well, sort of. Sully I…" she began to cry.

"Tell me the truth", he pleaded.

"I'm pregnant", she whispered.

"Is it mine?", he sneered.

"Of course it's yours. I can't believe you'd even ask me that", she was screaming at him now. Her temper was flaring as much as his.

"Well you hid it from me, that tells me you didn't want me know. Why Michaela, why wouldn't you tell me?", tears were pricking his eyes by now.

"You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want kids right now. I couldn't very well tell you that it wasn't an option anymore.", she begged.

He looked at her and rubbed his hands across his eyes. He picked up his briefcase and walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?, she begged.

"Away from you. I need to get out of here right now before I do or say something that I'm going to regret.", he sighed. He threw open the door and stormed out.

"Sully wait…", she shouted but it was too late. He was already down the stairs and heading for his truck. The next sound she heard was the truck peeling out into the street.

Michaela stood dumbfounded in the middle of the loft. She was still trying to process what had just happened. _Did Sully really just leave her there? Was he coming back? She couldn't blame him after all the grief that she'd given him about Alex, and now she'd kept this from him._ She sunk down onto the couch and sighed. She was in too much shock to cry. After a few minutes had passed, she rose, collected her things, and numbly drove to work. She was going to have this baby, with or without him she only hoped that he would warm up to the idea.

Sully drove to his mountain overlook silently cursing himself. He couldn't believe that this was happening right now. After everything that had happened with Alex and the way Michaela had responded to it, how could this be happening now? He hadn't needed to come to his spot in over a year. Things with Michaela had been so perfect, too perfect. He pulled over and pounded the steering wheel.

"Arggggg", he growled angrily. _"Why did she lie about it?" _He paced back and forth beside the truck. _Because you told her you didn't want a baby!_ He shouted at himself. After having his own personal meltdown, he climbed into his truck and made his way to work. _I've got to fix this. I've got show her that we'll be ok _he reasoned.

As she arrived at work, Michaela went about her day numbly. No one really noticed that she wasn't her normally cheerful self. She managed to only run to the bathroom twice to get sick. Things seemed to be slowly getting better in that area, however now her bladder was fighting her. She felt like she was using the bathroom every 30 minutes.

"It's normal" came a voice from behind her. She jumped and turned around to see Janet, one of the nurses, standing behind her.

"What do you mean", she played dumb.

"Going to the bathroom all the time, it's normal. Just wait until you're farther along. It gets worse.", she chuckled.

Michaela raised her brow, "how did you know?"

"I've had 4 of my own. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're expecting. All the trips to the bathroom, the loose clothes, getting sick? You're not fooling anyone.", she laughed.

"Am I that obvious?" she smiled.

"If you need anyone to talk to, I'm here", Janet patted her on the shoulder.

"Thanks", Michaela sighed. "I think I might have to do this on my own".

"What?" Janet was taken aback. "I thought you were married?"

"I am", she looked forlornly at her wedding ring. "I'm just not sure for how long." Janet grabbed her hand, "let's go get some tea. You can vent to me".

After spending what seemed like hours in the hospital cafeteria, Michaela spilled everything that she and Sully had been dealing with over the last several weeks.

"He loves you", Janet said sympathetically. "He'll be back. He just needs time to process all this."

" I hope so", Michaela shrugged.

"Anytime you need to talk, I'll be around", Janet patted her hand across the table.

Michaela went back up to her floor to finish her shift hoping that she'd find Sully at home when she got there.

After working til lunch, Sully decided to take the rest of the day off. He wanted to fix this latest blow up with Michaela. He'd been looking at some land on the outskirts of town. He had been wanting to build a house for them for awhile. It always seemed like they were too busy to talk about it. Now, with a baby coming they were going to need the space. The loft was no place to raise a baby.

He drove in determined silence to the plot he'd been looking at. As he got out of the car he stood in awe at the beautiful view. She would love this, he knew that much. After some contemplation, he pulled out his cell and called the number on the real estate sign. He got directions to the office and drove with purpose. He was going to do it. He was going to buy this land for them. He now had the money from the Pike's Peak job so he could afford this.

An hour later he came out with the contracts in his hand. He was smiling for the first time since this morning. Things were going to work out. He was going to build a house and provide for his family. Michaela was going to have a house and a place to raise this baby. Now he felt that he could finally be excited about the situation.

He jumped in his truck and drove to a local flower shop. As he walked into the store, he had a smile plastered across his face.

"I'd like to order some flowers", he smiled widely.

"Where to?" the girl behind the counter asked.

"Primrose Hospital, 5th floor, to Dr. Michaela Quinn", he smiled.

"I'm gonna be a dad", he smiled.

"Congrats", the girl laughed.

"Thanks", he handed her the money. "Make sure those go out today, ok?", he questioned.

"No problem, she'll get them by 5", the girl smiled.

Sully strode with purpose back to his truck. He headed home to start sketching out the house he wanted to build. He knew that he had a lot of making up to do for the way he stormed out that morning. He wanted to build the perfect house for his family. He wanted to make Michaela proud.

_Ok, so I know…short chapter, but I wanted to get this up today. A little steam, a little angst. Hope you enjoy!_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The rest of the day had gone by in a blur for Michaela. She'd spent most of it in quiet contemplation. She wondered what the night might hold. _Would Sully come home? Should she go home? How was she going to do this on her own? _She sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes. She moved to head in the direction of the employee lounge. She wanted to grab her things and head out. She was tired already, and then the pregnancy was making it worse. She felt like she could sleep for a week. She didn't even know if she had the strength to eat dinner at this point. After grabbing her purse and jacket out of her locker, she headed by the nurses station to drop off the chart she was carrying.

"These are for you", a nurse stated cheerfully. She smiled at Michaela, "and congratulations, by the way". She pointed at the vase of pink roses that stood on the counter with a "mom to be" balloon attached to it.

Michaela blushed, "thank you". She wasn't ready to tell everyone at work the news but apparently someone already had. She pulled the card from the vase and read it,_ I'm sorry! I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I love you so much. Please forgive me? Can we have a do over with this. I want this baby as much as you do. Love, Sully_ Tears pricked her eyes as she stuffed the card in her pocket.

"Something wrong", she turned to see Janet behind her.

"No, nothing's wrong. I think things are finally right.", she smiled a watery smile.

She gathered the flowers and began to walk to the elevator. Once she got to her car, she pulled out her cell to text Sully. She knew she was only about 5 minutes away, but she couldn't wait any longer. _I'm sorry too, I love you, and yes a do over would be great._ She placed her phone back in her purse and began to drive home.

She was surprised at the feeling in her stomach as she approached the loft. She'd been so anxious lately with hiding this, that she failed to realize the toll that it was taking on her. When she pulled into her parking spot, she just sat there in the car enjoying the peace that washed over her. She had a feeling that now that Sully knew about the baby, she would be able to enjoy this pregnancy like she should have from the beginning.

She was surprised that when she looked up at the windows in the loft, there was no light shining out. Usually Sully was home at this point. She had a sudden sinking feeling that maybe her joy was premature, but she pulled herself out of the car anyway. She gathered her things and made her way up the steps.

When she enter the loft, she found Sully lying on the couch. He was sound asleep and fully clothed. She chuckled at the thought of him being just as worn down as she was. She placed her things on the breakfast bar and carefully walked in his direction. He had loosened his tie and removed his shoes, but left the rest of his work clothes on. He looked so peaceful sleeping there that she didn't want to wake him. She leaned forward and placed a kiss to his forehead. He sighed and shifted slightly. As uncomfortable as she knew it would be, she kicked off her shoes and snuggled up next to him. Due to the fact that the futon was folded up and not flat, they barely fit on it together. Michaela's knees came right to the edge. She reached up behind Sully and grabbed the blanket off the back. She pulled it over the two of them and snuggled down into it's warmth. She sighed contently and placed her head on Sully's bicep. He shifted slightly and wrapped his right arm around her middle. He was still asleep, but mumbled something that sounded like an I love you as he rubbed her belly. She smiled before drifting off into a deep sleep. This was the most rest she'd had in days.

As light began to filter through the windows, Sully shifted. He realized at this time that he was still on the couch. He opened his eyes and smiled at the sight in front of him. Michaela had joined him at some point. She was snuggled up next to him. She still had on her scrubs and her hair was a tangled mess. He smiled as he looked at her so peaceful and content. He wished he could stay like this all day. He knew that he needed to get up and go to work, but having her so close and happy made his heart melt.

He turned his head to see the flowers from the day before sitting on the counter. He suddenly felt awful that he's said some of the things he had to her. _How could he have doubted her about this baby? This baby was made from love, a love that was so strong it could stand any storm._ With everything that had happened lately in their relationship, this was the one thing that was going to be right. He loved this baby already, he just hoped that she would forgive his actions.

Michaela had rolled to her back slightly since Sully had shifted to get up. He didn't want to wake her, but he needed to get in the shower. He pulled himself from behind her and stepped over her sleeping form. Once he'd freed himself from the futon, he kneeled down in front of her. He placed his hand on her flat stomach and softly caressed it.

"Hi in there", he cooed. "I'm your Daddy. I love you so much", he whispered "and I'm gonna spend the rest of my life loving you and taking care of you, ok? Don't make the next several months to hard on your momma alright? She loves you too."

As he began to pull his hand away, he felt Michaela's hand grab it. Her eyes fluttered open and tears began to travel down her cheeks.

"Oh Sully, I'm sorry. I should have told you about the baby sooner." she sobbed.

"I'm sorry too, and I'm gonna make this up to you. I love you and this baby. Nothing's more important to me. Now go back to sleep. I've gotta get in the shower." He leaned forward and placed a light kiss to her forehead as he rose from his spot.

She smiled contently and turned onto her side. Before Sully reached the bedroom, he turned around to gaze at her and noticed that she'd already fallen back asleep. He hurried to get in the shower. He wanted to tell her about his plans for a new house. He knew he needed to be quick if he wanted to talk to her about it before she figured it out for herself. He'd left the plans all over the kitchen table.

As Sully strode into the kitchen, he saw Michaela sitting up on the futon rubbing her eyes. "Would you like some coffee?", he asked.

"Tea would be better please, the decaf stuff. I need to cut back on the caffeine. It's really not good for the baby.", she smiled at remembering Sully's words of affection from earlier.

"I wondered why you bought that", he smiled. "Guess I'm not a very good observer."

"No, I just needed to be craftier. It was harder than you think keeping this a secret.", she dropped her head and twisted her hands in her lap.

"Please stop this.", he begged. "I'm happy about this, and we're going to be fine. We just might need to do things a little differently from now on, and save more of our money. We're gonna make this work. I promise."

He walked over and handed her the cup of tea he brewed. He placed he arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him. She began sipping the tea and sighed as she relaxed into him.

"I've got something that I want to show you", he smiled. "Come over here", he reached his hand out to her and pulled her to a standing position. They walked over to where he'd left the plans out the night before.

"What is all this?", she questioned.

"Well, if you like it, it's gonna be our new house.", he smiled at her bursting with pride.

"Our house?", she glanced at him sideways.

"Yeah, I figured if we're gonna have a baby, we're gonna need a house.", he chuckled.

"Oh Sully, it's beautiful", she smiled.

"So does that mean you like it?", he laughed.

"Yes, I love it", she hugged him and placed a quick kiss to his cheek.

Just as he was about to lean in and give her a deeper kiss her hand flew up to her mouth. She jerked out of his embrace and made a mad dash to the bathroom. When Sully rounded the corner he saw her kneeling on the floor emptying her stomach into the toilet. She coughed a little and wiped her hand across her forehead.

"Are you alright", he gasped.

"Yes, I'm fine", she sighed. "This is normal and I've been dealing with it for several weeks. I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm usually better at keeping it down. I think I was just so happy this morning that I didn't think about it for once."

He knelt down beside her and rubbed gentle circles on her back, "you have nothing to be sorry for. Although I think our daughter wanted to make her presence known.", he chuckled.

"Daughter huh", she smirked. "I hate to tell you this, but it's going to be a boy."

"How do you know that? I mean, do you know that?", he looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Well, not officially, but I have a feeling. We won't know for sure until the 5th month, but a mother knows.", she laughed.

"Well, I don't mind either way as long as he has your eyes.", he smiled at her lovingly.

"Well you know he might, but he might have my stubbornness too?", she smiled.

"That's ok", he smirked. "It's just the way I like them." He pulled her to a standing position and they made their way back out to the living area.

Once again settled on the couch, Sully spread the plans out in front of them. "This is what I'd like to build us."

"Will we have enough room?" she questioned.

"Well, I figured we could have 4 bedrooms. That would give us two extra rooms. We'd have room for your family to stay with us when they visited."

"Sully that's great. I'm sure mother would love to be able to be this close when the baby comes. Where are we going to build this though? We don't own any land.", she glanced in his direction and notice a slight smile "do we?"

"Well, we don't, but I do", he grimaced. "I put an offer in on a piece yesterday. I wanted to surprise you. After I get off work tonight we can go look at it ok?", he braced himself for her reaction.

"Ok", she conceded. "We'll go look at it."

Sully sighed at her reaction. He knew that this was a big purchase and he should have waited to do it with her, but he also knew that Michaela would love it once she saw it.

"I've gotta get to work", he kissed her forehead. "When do you get off today?"

"Around 5 again. Come pick me up?", she smiled.

"Sounds like a plan", with that he walked out the door whistling and humming in happiness.

Michaela sank back into the futon. She thought _how could news that she thought would be so bad turn out to be so good?_ She hadn't felt this content in weeks. Janet was right, Sully was embracing his roll as a father already. She couldn't be happier if she tried. Now the only thing left to do was tell her mother. She knew that this was a conversation that she didn't want to do over the phone. She had some vacation time saved up. She would talk to Sully tonight about taking some time off. She hadn't been back to Boston since Miriam's wedding. She smiled at thinking about how happy her father would be at the news of a grandchild. Her mother was quite another story, but she would deal with it as it came. She was finally happy about this. No one was going to take that away from her.

_**Ok, so Sully came around. Just to put you at ease, they will remain on solid ground for the remainder of the story. Yes, I have more drama planned as this unfolds. And yes it will include M & S, but their marriage is not endanger of breaking up. I'm sure you've already figured that Elizabeth will add to the drama, and how will Alex react when she finds out about the baby? Stay tuned…LOL**_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

1 month later….

Michaela had been trying to set up a trip to visit her family for awhile. She wanted to tell them about the baby, but wasn't sure how. It was quite obvious that she was expecting at this point. At 3 months pregnant, she had a noticeable baby bump. She had made it past the morning sickness, and wasn't as tired as she had been. She now was trying to convince herself that she wasn't fat, it was the baby.

She huffed, "Why can't this be easier?"

"What are you grumbling about now?", Sully laughed as he walked into the bedroom. He saw Michaela pacing the room tossing clothes on the bed. She looked fired up over something, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to take her on again right now. The pregnancy was making her crazy lately. She was biting his head off over minor things, and he'd just fought a battle over organic milk this morning.

"This is the problem", she barked as she held up a skirt. "Nothing fits and I've got to pack for our trip. I'm getting fatter by the minute and I still have 6 months to go. I'm going to be to big to move by the time this is over."

"You're not fat, you're pregnant remember?", he moved to face her and placed a kiss to her forehead. "We just need to go shopping, that's all. You can't wear your regular clothes anymore. We need to buy maternity stuff."

"You're right, I guess I didn't think about that since my scrubs still fit.", she dropped her hands to the side.

"Right", he turned away from her so she wouldn't see his face. The scrubs she had been wearing were almost too tight. In another few weeks they wouldn't fit either. She looked so cute each morning as she paced around determined to keep wearing her regular clothes.

"Let's go shopping today before your appointment", he suggested.

"Fine, I have to be at Dr. Bernard's by 3", she conceded.

Sully turned to leave the room, "I'm going to make us some breakfast while you get dressed ok?"

"Sure. Could you make me waffles this morning?", she asked.

"Sure", he chuckled.

"And some eggs?"

"Sure"

"Oh, and toast would be good too", she was getting more excited about the food and forgetting about her recent scowl over her weight.

"Sure, anything else your highness?"

"Ooohh, bacon too if we have any?", she had a deadpan expression on her face.

"I'll get right on it", Sully turned and made his way to the kitchen before she could add to the list.

She came out of the room in her robe just as Sully was placing her breakfast on the table.

"This looks great, Sully. I'm so glad you're such a good cook. You'll have to teach me sometime", she dug into her breakfast with vigor.

The two sat in silence as Michaela shoveled her breakfast into her mouth. Sully started to comment about how it wasn't going anywhere and she should slow down, but thought better of it. He didn't want to upset her again.

"Are going to eat that?", she asked pointing at his last piece of bacon.

"No, you can have it", he smiled at her as she took it off his plate before he even finished the sentence.

"What?", she rose her brow at him. "I'm hungry and the baby has to eat."

After cleaning up the dishes, the two made their way down to Sully's truck. It was a nice day out and the couple could walk, but Michaela wasn't sure if they would end up buying something and she didn't want to have to worry about carrying it. She looked down at herself and scowled. She had thrown on sweats seeing that it was the only thing she had right now that fit.

"You look fine", Sully jumped in reading her thoughts. "We'll get you some new stuff and you can change before your appointment if that will make you feel better."

When they got the local mall, Sully helped her out of the truck and they went in to go to the maternity store. Once inside the store, Sully found a bench to sit on while Michaela milled around.

"Can I help you?", a young sales clerk asked.

"Yes, I need some casual dress clothes and a few things to sleep in.", Michaela smiled.

"Right this way", the girl motioned to the left side of the store. She helped Michaela find an arm load of things.

"Is this your first?", the girl asked over her shoulder.

"Yes, this is all new to me", Michaela blushed.

"You don't have far to go then", the girl glanced at Michaela's belly.

"Actually, I'm only 3 months. Baby's not due until the end of May.", Michaela began to get a clipped tone to her responses.

"Big baby then", the girl stammered.

"Yes, apparently", Michaela stormed into the dressing room.

After trying on several outfits, she selected the ones she wanted to buy and made her way to the register. Sully soon joined her and helped her carry the bags out. As they were walking towards the doors to leave, Michaela paused and sniffed.

"That smells delicious, like pretzel. Let's get one Sully, please?", she gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"You just had lunch and hour ago. Are you hungry again?", as he was saying this he realized what a crazy question it was indeed. Lately Michaela was always hungry.

"Fine, you sit. I'll go get it", he chuckled.

As he was coming back with the pretzel in hand, he heard his name being called. He turned around to see where the sound was coming was coming from and his shoulders slumped. What was she doing here? Alex came trotting over to where the couple was sitting.

"It's funny seeing you here", she smiled brightly.

"Yeah, it's a real riot", he bit out. "What do you want Alex?"

"I haven't seen around lately", she cocked her head to the side. "I just wanted to ask you if we could be friends."

"I don't think that's a good idea.", he handed the pretzel to Michaela and sat down beside her draping his arm around her shoulder. "We're starting a family, and I don't want anything to disturb that."

"Fine, your loss", she stomped away angrily.

Michaela snickered as Alex stormed out of the mall. "I think that might be the last time we see her"

"Don't count on it", Sully sighed. "I don't think that she's going to give up that easily."

Michaela turned to face Sully and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"What was that for", Sully asked.

"Just me showing you that I love you, and I know how hard things have been lately. I'm proud of the man that's embracing this new baby and I can't wait until he gets here so he can meet his dad.", she smiled.

"He huh, you're still thinking it's a boy?", Sully reached down and rubbed her belly.

"Yep, we'll know by Christmas. That will be a nice treat don't you think?", she laughed at him and the goofy look on his face.

With that, the couple made their way out of the mall and headed to Dr. Bernard's office.

"Good morning, Michaela", Emily greeted as Michaela signed in at the front desk.

"Morning Emily", she returned. "I'm here for my monthly check up".

"Have a seat, the doctor will be with you shortly.", Emily pointed at the chairs in the waiting room.

Sully guided her over to one of the oversized couches and the two settled down to wait. After a few minutes Emily called Michaela back to the exam room. Sully helped her rise and guided her back. Once in the room, Michaela sat on the table and waited for the doctor.

"How are you feeling today?", Dr. Bernard asked.

"I'm feeling much better now that the morning sickness has subsided.", she responded.

"Any swelling yet in your feet?"

"A little, but it hasn't been too bad. I'm still working a full load at the hospital you know?", she cocked a brow at him.

"Yes, I know", he frowned. "I'm planning on cutting your hours back starting next week."

"Why?", she scowled.

"You need to take at easy. You're pregnant remember. How many moms have you seen put their baby's at risk because they won't slow down?"

After measuring her belly and taking her blood pressure, Dr. Bernard began to scribble in her chart. His forehead wrinkled and he turned so that Michaela couldn't read the chart over his shoulder.

"When did you say you last monthly was", he frowned.

"The middle of April, why? Is something wrong?", her lip began to tremble and Sully stood from the chair he was sitting in the come and stand beside her.

"I don't think so, but you weight gain and size suggests that you're farther along than 3 months. I think I may have calculated your due date wrong. I want to bring in the portable and due a sonogram before you leave. It's just a precaution, don't worry. You may just have high levels of fluids too."

Dr. Bernard turned to leave the room, I'll be back in a moment, please relax".

Sully pulled Michaela into a hug and began to rub her back.

"Oh Sully, what if something's wrong", she sobbed.

"We'll worry about that after they tell us. Like the doc said, it could be something simple.", he tried his best to sooth her but she was working herself up by the minute.

After what felt like forever, Dr. Bernard came back in the room with a nurse. She was wheeling the ultrasound machine in and smiling brightly. Dr. Bernard instructed Michaela to lie back and raise her shirt over her belly. Michaela complied but jumped when she felt the cool jelly touch her skin. Dr. Bernard took the wand and swirled it around smiling.

"Is everything alright", Sully begged.

"It appears that everything is fine", Dr. Bernard smiled. "Do you want to hear the heartbeats?"

"Can I?", Sully was moving closer to the machine and the doctor turned up the volume.

Michaela's physician brain was kicking into over drive _heartbeats as in more than one?_ She began to ask herself. Sully had yet to pick up on this.

"Is there too much fluid", Sully asked. "Is that why you think she's getting big so fast?"

Michaela scowled at him and he winced at the thought of calling her big.

"No not exactly", Dr. Bernard smiled. "You see this right here?", he pointed to a tiny outline of the baby on the screen.

"Yeah", Sully nodded. "Is that the baby?"

"That's one of them", Dr. Bernard chucked.

"Wait, one of them?", Sully turned and looked at Michaela.

"Yeah, one of them", Dr. Bernard smiled "and here" he pointed a little lower on the screen 'that's the other one".

"Wait, two babies", Sully gasped. "We're having two babies?"

"Yep, there's two babies, that explains the size", he looked over at Michaela who was still trying to process the information that was just dumped on her.

"We'll monitor you more closely, cut your hours significantly, and you most likely will not make it to your due date.", with that Dr. Bernard handed Michaela a tissue to wipe off the jelly and turned to the stunned couple "congratulations".

After Dr. Bernard left the room, Michaela turned to Sully. "Are you ok with this?", she questioned.

"I'm better than ok. We're going to have twins.", he threw his arms around her and she relaxed into his embrace.

"Oh Sully, this changes everything now", she began to tear up.

"Well, it does mean that we're going to fill up that house a lot sooner than we planned, and it does mean that when we go to your parent's next week for Thanksgiving that we are going to have a lot to be thankful for.", he grinned at her.

"So you're ok with this? Really?", she looked at him hopeful.

"Yes, how many times do you need to hear that? I'll keep telling you until you believe me. Let's go celebrate," he announced as her helped her off the table. "Colleen and Daniel can meet us for dinner or something", he shrugged.

Michaela smiled and embraced him in a tight hug. Just as she was getting ready to release him, her stomach growled.

She giggled, "yes, dinner would be nice".

"Let's go. I've gotta feed my babies", he chuckled.

The two left hand in hand smiling blissfully. As they reached the parking lot, Sully picked Michaela up and twirled her around shouting, "I'm having twins".

"Yes Mr. Sully, when you do something you always seem to go all out", she laughed.

_**Not what you were expecting right? Well, I'm trying to change it up a bit. Hope you enjoyed this next installment. More to come next week….**_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

As Michaela settled into her seat, Sully placed their bags into the overhead compartment. They were Boston bound and Michaela was a nervous wreck. She had yet to tell her parents about being pregnant, and now she had to tell them that it was twins too.

Sully placed his arm around her and offered a gentle squeeze, "it's gonna be alright, stop worrying. They love you and they're gonna love these babies."

"I know they will. I'm just worried about how mother will react. Before the wedding, she lectured me about getting pregnant right away. She kept telling me that it would ruin my career. I'm sure she'll blame this on you."

"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself. You just keep yourself relaxed. We don't want any stress hurting the babies.", he pulled her head over to rest on his chest and coaxed her to nap during the flight.

Once they arrived in Boston, they hailed a cab to take them to the Quinn home. Rebecca had offered to pick them up, but Michaela wanted to give the news of the pregnancy to everyone at once. Elizabeth had asked everyone to come over for a family dinner to welcome Michaela home. This was the first time they'd all been together in over a year. Marjorie and Rebecca's children hadn't come out for the wedding. They had been to young. Michaela was looking forward to seeing everyone and playing with her nieces and nephews.

When they pulled up to the house, Sully jumped out and grabbed their bags out of the back of the cab. Michaela struggled to climb out and half waddled over to the sidewalk. She took a deep breath and huffed as she climbed the stairs. Once she rang the doorbell, she could hear shouts and laughter coming from the other side.

"You're here", Joseph boasted from the doorway.

Michaela had tried to hide her growing belly behind Sully.

"Yes, we're here. Where's mother?", she asked.

"She's coming", Joseph laughed. "Why don't you come on in and I'll help you get these up to your room."

"I got it sir", Sully responded.

"There you are", Elizabeth shouted as she rounded the corner and came to a sudden stop. "Is there something you want to tell us, Michaela?"

"Well, mom, dad, we're having a baby.", Michaela said it as if it was almost a question.

"I can see that", Elizabeth smirked. "Why am I just finding out about this now? You should have told me sooner. I could have come out and helped you."

Michaela visibly relaxed, "I'm sorry mom, it's been really crazy at home and we're just now getting used to the idea ourselves."

"Let me take those up stairs", Joseph pointed to the bags "and you two get settled in there", he pointed to the family room.

Sully wrapped his arm around Michaela and led her into the family room with a smirk on his face.

"What are you smiling about?", she looked up at him a cocked her head to the side.

"Well the last time we were here, I wasn't allowed in your room, and when I almost walked in on you in the bathroom, I wasn't allowed to shower with you. I have a feeling that this trip will be a lot more fun for me.", he snickered.

Michaela blushed a dark shade of red, "Well, I might need a shower before dinner if you want to join me later." She reached around and squeezed his rear end and kissed his cheek softly.

"You read my mind", he chuckled.

Once Joseph had put their bag in the bedroom up stairs, Elizabeth and he joined the couple in the family room.

"So when are you due?", Joseph raised his hand and waved it in Michaela's direction.

"Well the doctor put me due on May 30th, but after my last visit he said that I would most likely go early."

"Why's that?", Joseph asked concerned. "If you need a specialist for anything I can help."

"Well…", Sully grinned "sir, there's two of them in there", he rubbed Michaela's belly.

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open, "did you say two?"

"Yes mother, it's twins", Michaela mumbled.

"We have to celebrate", Joseph boomed. "This is cause to celebrate for sure."

Elizabeth rose and hugged her daughter, "Oh Michaela I wish you had told us sooner. We have a lot to prepare for. We need to find you a bigger apartment. You need two of everything: cribs, clothes, car seats…".

"Mom, calm down. We've planned this. Sully building a house for us right now. It's about half finished. I've been saving money and making lists of all the things I need to buy. Colleen wants to have a shower for me. I'm sure a lot of the things that you're talking about will be gifts there. I'm not worried."

"I just want to be part of this. Please don't shut me out.", Elizabeth sighed.

Later that night Sully and Michaela were snuggled in her old room. "So this was your room, huh?"

"Yep, I used to lay here dreaming about meeting someone like you. Would it surprise you to know that you're the first boy/man to ever gain access to this room?"

"After meeting and getting to know your mother, no.", he laughed.

"Sully", she smacked him playfully. "Mother was very strict growing up."

"So are you happy with the way things went tonight? I mean with your folks. They seem to be pretty excited with our news."

"Yes, I don't think it could have gone any better", she groaned and shifted to one side.

"What's wrong?", he asked worriedly.

"Just trying to get comfortable. One of the babies is really high tonight and is doing a number on my breathing ability.", she huffed.

"I'm sorry, I'd do something to help if I could. Just try and get some rest. We've got a lot of family to entertain this weekend.", he sighed.

After spending Thanksgiving at the Quinn house, the couple decided to stay home for the remainder of the pregnancy. Michaela didn't want to travel and worry about going into premature labor while they were away from home. Sully kept steady work on the house and planned for them to move in at the end of February.

Christmas had come and gone. Michaela felt like she was as big as a barn. She'd cut her hours back to only 2 days a week at only 4 hour days. The babies were active now at 26 weeks. She and Sully had decided not to find out the sex of the babies. They figured why take away one of life's surprises. The babies were a surprise in themselves. She wanted to wait, so Sully agreed.

It was a rainy January afternoon and Colleen was coming over to help make final arrangements for the baby shower. Michaela was waddling around the apartment trying to keep busy. She was beginning to get cabin fever from all the rest the babies required lately. She's been confined to the loft for the last 3 days. This visit from Colleen was going to be a highlight for the week.

Sully had been beyond busy for the last several months. The Pike's Peak Resort was nearly finished and the house was almost completed also. He thought they might be able to move in in the next 2 or 3 weeks. He was suppose to go by the building sight after work and make a final inspection before the cabinets and flooring were put in.

Michaela heard a knock at the door and shuffled over to answer it as quickly as she could. Colleen came in an embraced her in a hug.

"How are you feeling?", she asked.

"Fat, tired, and you know…ready to have these babies", Michaela offered a weak smile.

"Not too much longer sweetie. Hang in there.", she smiled back at her. "Let's finalize this guest list for your shower. Then we can pig out on ice cream. I brought your favorite, Rocky Road."

Michaela laughed and jumped suddenly. "Come here", she gestured toward Colleen. As Colleen moved closer Michaela grabbed her hand and placed it on her belly. "Feel that?", Michaela smiled.

"Oh wow, yes. What is that?", Colleen gasped.

"I think it's a foot", Michaela giggled. "This one likes to kick me. He's active all the time."

"He?", Colleen laughed.

"Well, that's what I think", Michaela smiled.

"So have you picked out names yet?", Colleen fumbled through the note cards that she had out on the table with party plans on them.

"Yes, we have. But, we're not telling anyone until after the babies are born.", she smirked.

"Here it is", Colleen gasped. "Take a look at this list and let me know if there's anybody else you want to invite, and I'll add them. I think we're all set with the planning though. Is Sully sure that the house will be finished in time?"

"He says we can move in in 3 weeks. We only have 4 weeks left on our lease here, so it better be done", she sighed.

The plan was for the couple to move into the house in a month. Sully had taken Michaela out to the site several times to get her opinion on how things were progressing. From the outside the house looked finished, but from the inside it still looked like a shell. Drywall was still exposed, flooring had yet to be laid, appliances had to be installed, and lighting had not been hung. Sully kept assuring her that it would be finished in time, so Colleen had planned to have the shower at the house. Michaela was to be written out of work in another week and Colleen wanted to make this easy on the couple. Michaela had been resistant at first. She wanted to work as long as possible. However, lately is becoming harder to sleep. The babies were keeping her up at night, her ankles were swollen, food had to be taken in in small amounts. The babies had been pushing on her stomach to the point that sometimes she had to prop herself upright and sleep leaning against the wall. She was more than ready for the next 3 months to pass.

Dr. Bernard had told her that the babies wouldn't go full term. He was hoping that she would make it to 34 weeks. These babies were large though, and he was worried that their size would cause her to go early.

"You need to stay off your feet as much as possible", Dr. Bernard had told her. "You're a doctor on the OB floor, you should know what you're up against."

Michaela knew all the precautions to take. She knew what would happen if she didn't follow orders. She did want these babies coming any sooner than they had too. She had a small frame and a small pelvis. She was already worried about the delivery. As she glanced down at her swollen stomach she sighed.

"Don't worry", Colleen patted her arm. "They make all kinds of stuff to help with the pain".

"How do you always know what I'm thinking?", Michaela smiled.

"I'm your best friend, it's my job.", Colleen laughed.

Just then Sully walked in, "house will be ready early", he announced.

"How do you know that?", Michaela asked.

"I went by after work today. Lighting's up and the walls are finished. They've got to put the floors down and hang the cabinets. Then, we can move", he smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Well, my work here is done", Colleen laughed. "I'll see you this weekend".

"I'm so ready to move into the house", she leaned against him. "I can't wait to see our babies run through the yard, climb a tree, play in a swing hung by their daddy…."

Just then one of the babies made it's presence known by kicking her in the ribs. "Ugh", she huffed. She leaned forward and grabbed onto the counter.

"What's wrong?", he looked at her with a worried expression.

"Nothing's wrong. Your son was upset that we were ignoring him I guess", she laughed.

Sully leaned forward to where his face was level with her belly. "You better be behaving in there", he cooed. "Give your mom a break." Just then another swift kick was delivered only this one was to wall of her abdomen. Sully saw the bulge right near her navel.

"Look at that, she heard me", he gasped.

"You mean he", Michaela laughed. "A mother knows"

"We'll see", he chuckled. "Let's eat, I starving".

They made there way over to the table and settled into a quiet dinner. Their life was going to be getting busier and busier in the coming weeks.

_**OK, so I know that I put a ton of stuff in this chapter along with a large amount of time covered. I'm trying to finish this story but also do the plot line justice. A new story idea came to me yesterday, and it won't leave me alone. I'm trying to wrap this one up so I can start the other one. I'm going to begin writing the new one and posting it soon. I will probably only post chapters for this one once a week, so I can get the other one out of my head. Bare with me. I'm trying here. I'm thinking this story only has about 2 or 3 more chapters before I finish it. Thank you for all the reviews and encouragement!**_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

April…

Michaela groaned as she pushed herself upright in the bed. She was only 4 weeks away from her due date and very uncomfortable. She looked around the room and smiled. In the corner were two bassinets set up for when the babies came home. She was ready, more than ready to have these babies. She was getting little sleep, she could hardly move due to her size, and Sully was driving her nuts with his hovering.

Just then he walked into the room, "I brought you some breakfast".

"Thanks", she grimaced.

"I thought maybe I could help you with a bath today", he smiled. "I know you must want to get cleaned up."

Michaela had been put on bed rest 4 weeks ago because she had been having contractions. She spent most of her time on the couch or in the bed.

"That's sounds nice, thank you", she smiled back and shifted in the bed again. "When I said I was ready to move into the house, I thought I'd get to see more of it than the bedroom.", she laughed.

Sully had moved them into the new house back in February. Everything had been finished except a few minor details. Michaela had been spending most of her time in the master bedroom. She was dying to be able to decorate and organize things to her liking. Dr. Bernard had told her that she'd be lucky to make it to 34 weeks in her pregnancy. She was at 36 now, and begging daily for the babies to come.

"Well, come on then. Let's get you washed up, then I have something to show you.", Sully wrapped his arm around her waist to help her stand.

She waddled into the bathroom and sank down on the closed toilet. As Sully was fixing the water temperature, she glanced at him and braced herself for the reaction she'd get, "I think it's going to be awhile before we do this again."

"Do what?", he questioned.

"This", she pointed at her stomach.

"Oh that, well I kinda assumed that we'd wait awhile anyway. I mean, we're going to have our hands full for awhile.", he chuckled.

"Yeah I know, but the pills didn't work Sully. How are we going to prevent this?", Michaela began to tear up.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm not mad about anything. We'll worry about this when the time comes. You just need to concentrate on this right now.", he helped her up and into the tub.

Michaela winced as she lowered herself into the tub.

"What's wrong?", Sully noticed her discomfort.

"Nothing. The babies are moving around is all. I don't think my skin can stretch anymore."

When she finished her bath, Sully helped her dry off and dress in a gown.

"Come this way, I want to show you something", he guided her down the hall to another room with the door closed.

"Sully what is it?", she giggled.

"A surprise", he kissed her on the cheek. "Now close your eyes".

He led her into the room and placed her in the middle. "Stay there, and keep your eyes closed." He quickly made his way around the room opening windows. "Ok, you can open them now."

When her eyes fluttered open, she was bombarded with a soft yellow. Sully had set the room up as a nursery. The walls were painted a soft yellow. Two cribs formed an L shape in one corner. A jungle theme was painted as a mural on one wall, and a rocking chair was in the corner with a lamp beside it. A changing table that was fully stocked graced another wall, and a soft green rug filled the center of the floor.

"Oh Sully, it's beautiful. When did you do all this?", she sighed and slowly turned in a circle to take it all in.

"Well it wasn't easy, but I had some help when your mom was here and Colleen's been coming by to help too.", he smirked.

"I can't believe you did all this without me knowing", she continued to look around trying to make sure that she didn't miss anything.

"Well you're a hard one to fool. It took a lot to keep this under wraps. I had a really hard time not telling you. You can't imagine how many times I wanted to bring you in here to cheer you up. I know how hard the last 2 months have been.", he moved to her side and hugged her.

"It's so beautiful, what made you decide on the jungle theme?", she cocked her head to the side.

"I figure whether it's boys or girls they'll love animals.", his face showed total adoration. "Well, we need to get you back to bed so you can rest. Doc said no more than 20 min at a time on your feet."

Just as she turned to walk out of the room, she grabbed her belly and leaned over in pain. "Sully?", she grimaced. A look of total fear washed over her face.

"Come on", he grabbed her arm and led her back to the bed.

"Two more steps, we're almost there", he rubbed her back gently. Then it happened again, stabbing pain ripped through her abdomen.

"Ahhhhh, Sully?", she panted.

"Here, lie down. I'm gonna call the doctor", he glanced at her for a response that she would be ok for a few minutes. She nodded and he raced down stairs to get the phone.

Michaela slid her body up onto the bed and turned on her side. The doctor brain in her started working over time. She grabbed her watch off the night stand and began timing the contractions.

"Suuuulllllyyyy", she screamed.

He came racing into the room with the phone to his ear, "what?"

"We need to go now", she panted in between contractions. "The babies are coming. I'm only 7 minutes apart".

Sully relayed the info to the doctor, "we're on our way".

He tossed the phone onto the bed and began scrambling around the room. In all his haste he had forgotten that he had taken off his shirt when he helped Michaela with his bath. He was grabbing the over night bag that was packed and tossed some maternity clothes on the bed so Michaela could dress.

"Honey", she soothed as she pulled on her pants "you need a shirt."

"Huh?", he glanced down.

"A shirt, you can't go out like that", she giggled and then doubled over in pain.

"Right", he exclaimed "a shirt".

He grabbed a t-shirt out of a pile on the chair in the corner of the room and sniffed it. "Smells clean", he laughed and pulled it on.

The couple made their way down the stairs and out to the car. After helping her get in and buckled, Sully ran around to his side and slid in. "Ready", he smiled at her.

Another contraction ripped through her, "Oh Sully, I don't think I can do this!", she panted.

"Yes you can. You're doing it right now", he caressed her belly and drove down the driveway out to the main road.

As they made their way to the hospital, the contractions were becoming more frequent. "There only 3 minutes apart Sully. I can't have these babies in the car", she begged. "Hurry".

Sully turned on his flashers and raced faster down the road. "Do you think I'll get a ticket if I get stopped for speeding with a pregnant lady?", he glanced at her.

"I can't believe you're thinking about that right now", she screamed at him.

When they arrived at the hospital Sully pulled up to the main doors. He flung open the car door and left it sitting there while he rushed to get Michaela inside. A nurse met them right inside the door with a wheelchair. Just as Michaela sat down a gush of water rushed between her knees. She looked down both embarrassed and frightened.

"You're going to be fine", both Sully and the nurse assured her.

"Dr. Bernard's going to meet us in the OR", the nurse told Sully. "Park your car and come to the 3rd floor."

Michaela looked up with panic on her face, "the OR?"

"Just a precaution dear, you're carrying twins. We have to be ready just in case. Sometimes the second baby shifts and doesn't want to come out the right way.", she smiled and patted Michaela's hand.

Within minutes Michaela was in a gown and being wheeled into the OR. Shortly thereafter Sully appeared in scrubs. A cover over his hair and mouth left only the piercing blue eyes visible. Dr. Bernard came in to check Michaela.

"These babies don't want to wait. We can start pushing soon.", he chuckled.

Michaela continued to pant as Sully stroked her forehead. He would never admit it, but he was scared and it pained him to watch her suffer.

Michaela moaned as another contraction made it's way through her body.

"Isn't there something you can give her for the pain?", Sully glanced at the doctor.

"She's progressed too far Mr. Sully. If we need to do a C-Section, then we'll give her a spinal block, but and epidural is out of the question.", Dr. Bernard was making his way to the foot of the gurney. "Ok, Michaela, on this next one I want you to push." He place her feet in the stir-ups.

"You're doing great", Sully coaxed. He continued to rub her shoulders and neck.

She glared up at him, "don't touch me".

Sully jumped at her forcefulness and drew back as if she'd burned him.

Dr. Bernard chuckled, "you can't give up that easy son. You'd be surprised at the things I've heard in the delivery room. Some women will threaten your life. Ok, here we go…PUSH!"

Michaela bore down with all her might as she howled for the pain to stop. "I can't", she panted.

"Yes you can", Sully encouraged. "Come on baby, push!"

She gritted her teeth and pushed again.

"I can see the head", Dr. Bernard chimed in. "You're doing great, one more and the head will be out."

After 3 more long pushes the baby emerged. Dr. Bernard cleared the windpipe and shouted, "It's a boy. You want to come cut the cord, dad?"

Sully's smile stretched across his face as leaned in to kiss a worn down Michaela. He made his way to the end of the table and picked up the scissors that the doctor pointed to. He cut the cord and placed a light kiss to the baby's forehead.

Dr. Bernard chuckled, "you better get back up there. We're getting ready to do this again."

Sully watched as the doctor handed the baby off to one of the nurses and checked Michaela during her moment of respite.

"Alright Michaela, the contractions are going to start back up real soon. I need to wait and make sure this baby stays head down. So don't push until I tell you to, ok?"

She nodded as the sweat rain down her brow.

Sully leaned in and placed a kiss on her temple, "You're doing so good. Just a little more baby and will have the other one here too."

She looked up at him wearily and sighed, "I'm so tired."

Within moments she grimaced in pain, "Can I push?" She looked frantic as if she couldn't hold back.

"Let me check one more time", the doctor flipped up the cover on her legs. "Go for it. You're good to go."

Michaela bore down with all the strength she had left, "Ugggghhhhh".

"I see the head. Come on. AGAIN!", he commanded.

"I…I…I can't", she began sobbing.

"Yes you can", Sully bellowed. "Come on, PUSH!"

With one more burst of energy she sagged back against the pillow as the baby slid from her body. Dr. Bernard cleared the airway and called Sully to once again cut the cord.

"It's another boy", Dr. Bernard beamed. He held up the infant for Michaela to see before handing off to the nurse.

Sully came around to Michaela's head an embraced her in a hug as tears welled in his eyes.

"You did so good. I'm so proud of you baby", he sighed as tears streamed down his face.

"Would like to hold them?", the nurse asked as she wrapped each in a blue blanket. After seeing the beaming faces of the new parents, she brought the babies over one at a time. She handed one to Michaela and one to Sully. "You have a beautiful family",

"Thanks", he responded.

"They don't need to go the NICU?", Michaela crinkled her brow.

"Nope, they weighed enough that as long as their breathing is ok they can stay with you.", the nurse smiled.

"How much?", Michaela asked as she shifted to get more comfortable on the bed.

"Well, the little guy that your holding was a little over 5 pounds, and the one that daddy's got was almost 6 pounds. No wonder you were so uncomfortable, that was a lot of baby.", she shook her head as she went to leave the room. "They should get you moved out of recovery shortly and up to your own room."

"Thank you", she smiled at the nurse then at Sully. "Thank you!"

"For what?", Sully looked questioningly at her.

"For being there with me, helping me through the pain, and most of all loving me.", a tear trickled down her cheek.

"There's no where I'd rather be", he smiled.

2 days later….

Michaela and the babies were discharged and Sully had been running around the house like a madman trying to get everything just right. When they got home, they saw Colleen and Daniel inside fixing lunch. Michaela came in with Sully behind her. He had one infant carrier in each hand. He placed both carriers on the kitchen table and moved out of the way. Michaela and Colleen both descended on the babies.

"They're so cute", Colleen gushed. "Oh look, he's trying to suck his fist".

"I think it might be time to eat soon", Michaela laughed.

"So what are their names?" Daniel eyed Sully as Michaela was picking one of the babies up.

"Well this one", he took the baby from Michaela's arms as she moved to get the other one, "is Michael. Since the Quinn's never got their boy, we figured we honor them that way. And this one", he pointed to the one in Michaela's arms "is Joseph, after her dad", Sully smiled.

"How do you tell them apart?", Daniel asked.

"Well Michael has brown hair and is stubborn like his mom", Sully chuckled as Michaela offer a smack to the chest, "and Joseph has blonde hair and is a little more reserved."

After carrying the babies up and placing them in the nursery, Michaela and Sully made their way back down stairs. Michaela set the baby monitor on the table and stretched out on the couch. Sully thanked Colleen and Daniel for stopping by and walked them out to their car.

"We really appreciate you coming by and all your help with setting things up around here. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon and we can hang out.", Sully held the car door for Colleen.

She started giggling, "things are never going to be normal again, at least not the way you're thinking. You've got two babies now. They're going to change the way you do everything."

After the car drove away, Sully made his way back inside only to find Michaela missing. After standing still and quiet for a few minutes, he could hear her soft singing coming through the baby monitor. _She must have gone up to feed them _he thought.

To get the full effect of this scene go to you tube and enter the following address into your browser… watch?v=V35oRyAMmtU

You'll Be in My Heart- Phil Collins

Sully crept closer to the door as not to disturb her and peeked through a small crack in the door jam. Michaela was sitting in the rocker with both babies as they nursed singing softly to them,

_Come stop your crying it will be alright_

_Just take my hand and hold it tight_

_I will protect you from all around you_

_I will be here don't you cry_

_For one so small you seem so strong_

_My arms will hold you keep you safe and warm_

_This bond between us can't be broken_

_I will be here don't you cry_

_Cause you'll be in my heart_

_Yes, you'll be in my heart_

_From this day on now and forever more_

_You'll be in my heart_

_No matter what they say_

_You'll be here in my heart always_

_Why can't they understand the way we feel_

_They just don't trust what they can't explain_

_I know we're different but deep inside us_

_You're not that different at all_

_And you'll be in my heart_

_Yes, you'll be in my heart_

_From this day on now and forever more_

Sully slowly pushed open the door and came to stand beside Michaela. He brushed the top of each baby's head and leaned in to place a kiss to her temple as she continued to sing.

_Don't listen to them, what do they know_

_We need each other to have and to hope_

_They'll see in time, I know_

_When destiny calls you, you must be strong_

_I may not be with you but you have to hold on_

_They'll see in time, I know we'll show them together_

_Cause you'll be in my heart_

_Believe me, you'll be in my heart_

_I'll be there from this day on_

_Now and forever more_

_You'll be in my heart_

_No matter what they say_

_I'll be with you_

_You'll be here in my heart_

_You'll be there always, always_

_I'll be with you_

_I'll be there for you_

_Always, always and always_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_I'll be there always_

As she finished she looked down at the sleeping infants. She felt truly blessed and lucky. She had a wonderful and loving husband, and two beautiful babies. What more could she possibly want? As if reading her mind, Sully shifted the babies out of her arms and placed them in one of the cribs together. He helped her stand and walk out to their own bedroom. As they approached the door he cupped her cheek and offered a soft kiss to her lips. She sighed and leaned into him.

"I love you Sully", she whispered. "I never thought I could be this happy. I mean all of this only happens in fairy tails right?"

"Everyone can live happily ever after if they find the right person to do it with", he chuckled and helped her into their bed. "Now rest, I'm sure they'll have you up sooner than you think". He left the room and made his way back down stairs so he wouldn't disturb her. "Yes, they were happy".

The End

_**So I know I said 2 chapters but, I figured I'd just give you one long one. Thank you to everyone whose been reading and following along with this story. Fun fact…You'll be in my Heart was the lullaby that I sung to my son when he was a baby. I'm currently working another story called With Tragedy Comes Hope if any of you haven't found it yet. That will be my main focus for awhile.**_


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